Resident Evil 4: Unrealism
by CrystalGlacier
Summary: An odd detective sends me into Resident Evil world - in the body of someone else... It brings me great problems, but might as well be the only thing that can keep me alive..
1. Prologue

**AN: Alright, this is my first fan fiction ever****… this plot hardly makes any sense, and this ****fic**** will probably not be the best you have read. Worry not! It's just for fun. ****I'm a bit rusty at this, but please review and let me know if anything needs changing. And bear in mind that English isn't my first language, so be patient. ****I'll try to stay ****true to my perso****nality as much as I can. **

**DISCLAIM****ER: I don't own Resident Evil**

**Yet…**

**…Just kidding.**

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_Prologue_

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_Congratulations! YOU WON!_

The letters blinked temptingly from the computer screen, with colors flashing around them. I drummed my fingers impatiently at the table, while sipping from my glass of milk. I wondered if I was going to get an epileptic seizure if I stared at them long enough.

_No_, I thought irritated, _I haven't won anything, and you damned well know it.__ God,__I hate spam. I'm going to find your creator and shove his head down the toilet. _

I looked down the page to see if some new fan fictions had been written, or if old ones had been continued. My lips felt dry. I reached for the lip balm on the stool next to the computer table, and suddenly, in an uncontrolled twitch from my arm, the half-empty glass of milk was swept off in one fluent movement and hit the floor with a loud noise. The contents were no longer in the glass, attracting the attention from my cat, Kitty.

_Clumsy!_

"Oh, no, you don't", I said, and dragged Kitty away from the pool. "Milk ain't good for you."

I hurried to the bathroom to get toilet paper, nearly tripping in the protective shoes I had left carelessly in the entrance a few hours earlier. Kitty was licking the white fluid enthusiastically. I went back to the living room with paper in both hands. Upon seeing Kitty, I opened my mouth to scold her, but then she seemed bored of the activity and walked towards the couch. After I was finished cleaning up the mess, the floor still carried the distinct smell of milk. I shrugged.

_No one's going to sniff the floor anyway._

I sat back into the chair, continuing my search for interesting fan fictions. Yawning, I glanced affectionately at my impressive pile of videogames in the bookshelf. I smiled weakly at them and sighed deeply.

_Man. Vacation is over. School tomorrow... __I could use another week off. __Or three._

I stretched my body and was about to exit the programs and shut the computer down, when I saw something interesting. A fan fiction with no title, and no summary, just a number. I tilted my head curiously.

_People can do that?__ Cool. __Doesn't seem very creative, though._

I shrugged and clicked on it. Suddenly, the screen went black. Perplexed, I hit Ctrl, Alt and Delete, only to have the blackness replaced by an angry man's face. He was dressed in what appeared to be an expensive suit. He stared straight at me, swiftly raising a condemning finger at me. My jaw dropped.

"MOM!" I yelled and stood up so fast I knocked the chair down with a loud noise. His finger was following my face, his eyes narrowed into small cracks.

"TEENAGER!" he roared, with a tone of disgust in his voice. "You… You! You play videogames!"

I blinked in disbelief.

"So?"

"So? SO?!" he screamed furiously. "'So', she says! 'So'! Do you have any idea what that makes you? Huh? Do you?!

I did not answer. I could not answer. I had no idea why I had talked to him in the first place.

"MOMMY!" I shouted again. Then I remembered she went to the store to buy some groceries.

_Blast it!_

"Answer me!" the man demanded. He glared at me. We stared at each other for a long time. Taking deep breaths, I clenched my fists and considered to grab the laptop and throw it out the window. The easy internet access, and knowing that my mother would behead me if I did so, kept me from doing it. Instead, I reached out to close it, but a piercing shout of protest made me jump and pull back my hand. The stranger looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you have a complete lack of curiosity?" he asked, with a tone of disappointment in his voice, while seemingly starting to type at a keyboard I was unable to spot. "Aren't you going to ask me who I am and what I'm doing on your computer?"

"… Who are you and what are you doing on my computer?"

"My name is William Burke," he answered smugly, and brushed some of his long, blonde hair away from his face. He reminded me of a bishonen, somehow – and a damned scary one at that. "I'm a detective working for the FGIA."

"…What? FGIA?"

"Future Generation Improvement Agency," he smirked triumphantly. "A fine, secret organization that fights for a better society for all of us. We want to make sure that YOU, kiddos, stop being such screw-ups. Yeah, that's right. What are you doing, really, huh? You're wasting precious talents on stupid, violent, brain-killing videogames, stealing music from record companies, spending ridiculous amounts of money on fashion clothes and popular brands, partying and drinking until you can barely tell your legs from your arms! Huh! Why don't you go and do something good about your life, huh? Help elderly people? Help your parents around the house? Study something? Give money to the starving children in Africa? Make yourself useful?"

I stared at him with, what I guessed was, a comically bewildered look on my face. I felt an odd mixture of amusement, shock and insult. Mostly, I felt insulted.

"What? You're _lecturing_ me? You've barely passed your teens, and you're _lecturing_ me?"

"Actually, I'm thirty-seven years old," Burke answered, looking flattered. He traced his finger down his cheek and rested it at his chin. "You can't see it, can you? Oooh, the guy I go to is really good at what he does, huh? He's a bloody artist; He can shape anyone, no matter how lousy their starting point is, into the very… definition of beauty. Like they were made of clay. Yeah. He is a bloody artist. Don't you think?"

He eyeballed me with skepticism written all over his face. "Huh. Would you like me to give you his number?"

A couple of moments passed by before I managed to formulate a decent retort inside my head, but he waved me off before I got the chance to utter it.

"Well, our conversation seems to have drifted off a little. Now… are you going to start contributing to the society, and become a good, uh… German citizen?"

"I'm _Norwegian_!"

"Wrong answer!"

Burke raised his arm victoriously with his index finger pointing downwards. It looked like he was about to hit a key on the unseen keyboard. Then he hesitated. His eyes were moving back and forth, and his finger was waving a little helplessly in the air.

"Ah! There it is!"

His arm darted down. My apartment dissolved into white nothingness. I fell down, desperately trying to get a grip on something. I used all the air in my lungs to scream, and did not manage to take a new breath. There was an intense, burning sensation in my chest, and then the world went black…

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	2. Chapter 1: Who's that guy in the mirror?

**AN: Yep. ****New chapter.**** I'll try to make it longer this time…****Thanks for the review, Misty Maxwell!**

**PS: The only Spanish words I understand are some that shouldn't be uttered**** in church to put it that way. Some guy on a forum****, God bless him,**** posted some of the villagers' quotes and a translation, and I've just copied from him. Not my fault if some seems odd to Spanish-speaking people here.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Resident Evil 4. **

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_Chapter one: Who's that guy in the mirror?_

* * *

I was lying on my stomach, with my left cheek pressed against something hard and pointy. Despite having regained consciousness, I didn't quite feel like trying to stand up just yet. My eyes opened slowly. The bright light burned me, and I had to blink a few times before it stopped hurting. Even then, the pale, gray light was so intense it felt uncomfortable to keep my eyes open. I had no idea where I was, and was slightly confused as to how I had gotten there. I puckered my brows, trying to stitch the pieces together.

_I was home… doing… something… with the laptop… and then… who the hell was that guy? What did he say his occupation was again? Oh, right, I remember. __Detective. __FGIA.__ Something __like__ that. Where did he send me? __Gotta__ get up…_

I groaned, and with great effort I forced myself to rise. I swayed a little before I fully regained my balance. I rubbed my sore cheek. The sudden awareness of what I was wearing struck me as a thunderbolt. I stared puzzled down my body.

_A black suit?__ I don't recall wearing a…__ wait a minute. Is my mind playing a prank on me, or has my cup-size reduced significantly?_

I gave my newly flat chest a gentle punch. Nope, nothing.

"What the h-"

I gagged, and placed my gloved hands tightly around my throat.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The thunderous scream startled a couple of ravens nearby, and made them fly away. My eyes were tearing up. My heart was beating rapidly, pumping adrenaline into my body. I breathed heavily, with each breath a whimper exposing the strange, deep voice that didn't belong to me.

_Oh, man! Oh, man! Oh, man! I'm a man! I'm a man! I'm a man!_

I was starting to feel dizzy. Colorful dots flew before my eyes. I felt warm liquid flowing down my cheeks and a lump growing in my throat.

_I __gotta__ sit down. I'm hyperventilating. _

My hands fumbled towards the ground, supporting me as I allowed myself to fall to the ground. On my knees, I closed my eyes and tried to calm down my breathing. After a couple of minutes, I opened my eyes again and staggered to a standing position. Immediately, my logical side started bombarding me with questions, the impossibility of the current situation and wild, only mildly rational theories that could explain why I was where I was, and most importantly WHAT I was. My logic had a lot of difficulty in explaining the latter. I forced it to silence and decided to get an overview over my surroundings. It appeared I was in some sort of forest. Dead, eerie trees encircled the bare, open spot I was in. I turned around, and let out a sound of confusion when I saw a large, chiseled stone in front of me. It reached me to my hips, and was long compared to its width. It looked like a human could lay on it… it actually looked like it was designed to have humans laying on it. A large, auburn stain was covering most of the rock. Despite all of this, the most noticeable object on it was a shiny, black pair of sunglasses. Without hesitation, I picked them up and put them on, shielding my eyes from the uncomfortable light. For some reason, I felt a lot calmer with them on. Like they were a part of me. I let out a sigh of satisfaction. Then I became aware of the overall look of the stone.

_What is this? __An altar?__ Damn,__ what place have I got__ten__ myself into?_

I tilted my head when I noticed a symbol carved into it. Something about it stirred a memory in my head. I felt it with my hand, running my fingers in the indentation of it. Suddenly I froze.

_Doesn't this look exa__ctly like the symbol used by that__ insane cult in Resident Evil 4?__ I haven't played it for ages, I could be wrong… no. It IS the same. __The very same.__My God.__ I refuse to believe this._

Nor did my logical side. It instantaneously started an uproar, with even more wild theories and speculations that could make the situation seem rational.

_Someone is playing a prank on you. __That asshole Jamie Kennedy for sure.__ He is probably sitting behind the trees with his camera crew and – _

_Shush! _I hissed angrily at it. _That doesn't make any sense! __Alright. __From now on, no more complex thoughts.__ Think as little as possible. __Now.__Must find way out._

I looked around me and noticed a small trail going in between the trees.

_Look. __Trail.__ Follow._

Almost robotically I walked towards it, feeling dead twigs break and old leaves crush under the soles of my shoes. I ducked under some sharp branches blocking the way. Following the track proved a more challenging task than I was aware of. It turned and twisted its way through the trees, many of the turns and twists seemed unnecessary and outright idiotic. I was starting to feel irritated.

_Did __drunken__ people make this path?_

The trail ended abruptly. I was standing in front of a wooden house, by the look of it a house ready to fall apart. It didn't look very inviting. I mustered all of my courage, took a deep breath, and walked up to the door. I knocked lightly on it.

"Hello?" I called, and cringed by the sound of my voice. "Someone in here?"

No response. I knocked harder.

"Hello! Is anyone there?"

Still no response. Now I started banging on the door.

"Come _on_! I need help!"

I banged faster. I prayed someone nearly deaf was in there, while I at the same time hoped that no one were there. Suddenly, the door loosened from its frame, and fell with a loud bang to the floor, whirling up a lot of dust.

_Okay… I guess not._

I stepped in, and looked around. This place didn't appear to have been cleaned in quite a while. The tapestry was flaking off the walls, cobweb hanged from the ceiling, it was covering the windows and pretty much everything else in the corridor. Not like there were a lot of things in there, anyway. A tall bookshelf and a couple of old paintings. I walked up to the shelf, and started studying the books.

_Great. __Just my luck.__ This is written in Spanish. Hey, there is an English one __th...__what? __Mining?__ Wow. __How utterly uninteresting.__ What more do we have… Spanish; no, Spanish; no, Spanish; no…here's _another_ book about mining! __Awww..._

I turned away from the books, feeling slightly disappointed.

_I was hoping they would have The Lord of the Rings, or something._

I strolled over to the next room, the living room. It was in even worse state than the corridor. It had wooden furniture, a fireplace and a few paintings I wasn't interested in scrutinizing at the moment. The item that caught my attention was a brightly pink backpack someone had carelessly hurled into a corner of the room. I rushed towards it, and picked it up. Unlike all the other stuff in the room, it wasn't covered in dust, and it looked like someone had left it there just recently. I felt bad about taking it, but I considered my need for it to be too great not to take it. I opened it and removed the articles inside. Books about medicine, history and math, notebooks, pencils, erasers, you name it.

_I'm finally having some luck. Never know when I might need this._

I put it on, and adjusted the straps to fit me comfortably.

_Aw, man… it really clashes with my outfit…_

I decided it was time to leave. As I passed the wooden table, I noticed a piece of a mirror lying under it. My heart made a leap when I stretched my arm to reach it.

_Whoa… alright… it's the moment of truth. How bad is it?_

I closed my eyes and lifted the mirror to my face. After a couple of moments I had managed to toughen myself up enough to take a peek.

The man in the mirror stared open-mouthed at me. His overall expression was difficult to interpret due to the sunglasses covering his eyes. He seemed tense. I waved my arm at him. He mimicked my movement. He tilted his head insecurely. Something about him was very familiar; like he was an old time companion… then I saw it. The sunglasses, the black clothes, the blonde hair…

_Albert __Wesker__? No! Am I in the body of some insanely accurate __cosplayer?_

I pulled the shades down on my nose bridge. The glimpse of glowing red behind them repulsed me, and I swiftly pushed them back to cover the eyes. There was no doubt about it. I threw the mirror away and rushed out of the house. The second my heel hit the ground outside, a male scream pierced through the air, followed by a nauseating sound of skin being torn and bones breaking. I darted through the bushes and towards the sound. I was running faster than I had even been able to do. My nose caught an unpleasant scent of burnt flesh. A branch hit my face, but I barely noticed it, and continued running. I wasn't quite sure why, but I felt like I had to. I felt like I had to see what had happened to the owner of the agonizing scream.

* * *

After having run for ten minutes or so, and ignoring my logical sides plead for turning _away_ from the source of the screech and smell, I saw some small houses in an opening in the woods. I reached a fence and jumped over. Then I saw it. A police officer was on fire, with a sharp hook penetrating his body. The sight of his corpse made me feel sick.

"Allí está!"

An axe flew by my head and missed my nose by inches. It startled me, and my jaw dropped as I realized that at least three dozen angry villagers were storming towards me with their pitchforks and hatches raised.

"Es el forastero!" one of the female villagers shouted, but to my surprise, not in my direction. Suddenly, all of the villagers went to a halt. They didn't seem certain on what to do. Then they split into three groups, one of them going after me. I darted past them, ducking under attempted assaults and flying axes. I ran into one of the houses, caught a glimpse of purple before I crashed into someone.

Ada Wong stared at me with an expression the animators wouldn't even in their wildest dreams dare to create for her. It was most likely never to be seen again. It was obvious that she wasn't prepared for this. Not that I could blame her. Seeing a perfect clone of your evil, superhuman, sociopathic boss following you around on your job should make anyone at least slightly baffled. I would have found it sort of amusing, hadn't it been for me being scared senseless. In loss of better ideas, I brutally pushed her away from me, causing her to lose balance and fall to the floor. I jumped over her, headed for the backdoor and rushed out of the house. My heart skipped a beat when I heard the rather unsettling sound of a chainsaw, and then it started beating at such pace I almost thought it tried to escape from my chest.

_This is __bad,__ this is really, really bad!_

A young man with a prettyboy-haircut and a leather jacket stepped into my view. He was firing towards the sound of the chainsaw, and did an acrobatic backflip seconds before he lost his head.

_Whoa, that __dr__. Salvador is definitely not your average doctor._

Leon Kennedy pulled out his shotgun and emptied a few rounds into Salvador's bagged head before he went down. Suddenly, Leon looked in my direction.

"Hey, behind you!" he yelled, and pointed at me. I turned around just in time to grab a couple of murderous arms, and prevent them from tightening around my throat. I was surprised at the Ganado's lack of physical strength. Then I remembered that Wesker was considerably more fit than I've ever been. I lifted up my knee and kicked him in his stomach. He was pushed away from me, but it didn't take him long to launch himself at me again. I heard gunfire behind me, and I stepped aside as he fell lifelessly to the ground.

Out of the blue, I heard the incredibly welcome sound of the church bell. In a second, I developed very warm feelings towards Ada, and promised myself that I would apologize to her for pushing her if I ever was to meet her again. After that, the villagers seemed pretty much done with their killing spree, and walked almost zombie-like towards the source of the sound.

"Where's everyone going? Bingo?"

I smiled weakly to myself. I loved that cheesy line, but at that moment I wasn't able to laugh at it. I supported myself on my knees and shivered to my bones.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I turned back toward Leon to answer, but my words got stuck in my throat as I saw his reaction. His body went stiff. His eyes widened and narrowed as he looked me up and down, and in a split second his gun was no longer in his holster.

"Freeze", he said gruffly as he pointed his gun at my face. "Don't you fucking move."

I blinked in shock and terror, and was too paralyzed to say anything.

_Leon is going to shoot me! And he said the "F"-word!_

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	3. Chapter 2: Trust

**AN: ****This chapter is**** long. ****Very long.**** I have a thing for details… bad habit, I'll try to stop. ****I had to rewrite this whole chapter**** because Leon got too Chris Redfield-y, ****and I got too much of a brat, ****but I think it turned out nicely.**** I'll give you Leon's point of view here too.**

**Grrr! Working with the writing program in FF is so frustrating! Does anyone have any tips for me? I can't double space, sometimes punctual marks and spaces between words just disappear! Is it supposed to be like this?**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Resident Evil 4. **

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_Chapter two: __Trust_

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Leon stepped towards me, his face turning disturbingly cold.

"Wesker," he said quietly while he tightened his grip on the pistol. "I never thought I'd live to meet you in person."

I swallowed. I wanted so desperately to explain, or at least try to, but I was completely unable to do anything. Leon raised an eyebrow.

"Where the hell did you get that backpack?"

"Uhm… I… I was… I found it… in… a house… an abandoned house…"

I waved my arm towards the forest to show what I meant. Leon tilted his head with a rather peculiar facial expression. He looked at me as if I had just grown a second head out of my chest. I nevertheless decided to try to explain my situation, although I was certain he wouldn't believe me.

"Listen… listen… I know how it seems, but you got it all wrong. I'm not… I'm not Albert Wesker."

Leon snorted. "Really? And who are you supposed to be then?"

"I'm just… an average teenager. I don't know how I got here. There was this guy on my computer who -"

I told him everything, even about the milk-accident with Kitty. I included some personal information about myself as well. As I was talking and gesturing with my hands, I saw Leon's eyebrows rise, and his gun lower a little. When I was finished talking, he had the kind of facial expression you get when someone in full seriousness tells you that the earth is triangular.

"You honestly expect me to believe that?" Leon asked, with a small, wry smile. "Did you bump your head back in that house, Wesker?"

"I'm not Wesker!"

Leon walked threateningly towards me. For a split second, I was scared he was really going to shoot me. I stepped away from him, preparing for the worst, but he just reached out his hand and roughly took the sunglasses off.

"Yeah, I know… I know how this seems," I said nervously when he clutched the shades tightly in his hand and glared narrow-eyed at me. "If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, _sounds_ like a duck, it's gotta be a duck, right? But if there is _anything_ that I tell you that I want you to believe, it's this; I am _not_ Wesker. Please. I'm begging you, believe me! I don't know what to do… I… I need help…"

There was a moment of silence.

"… How come you know my name?" he asked suspiciously.

"I, uh… I… heard you talking to the phone-lady. She mentioned it."

Leon looked bewildered. For a moment he hesitated before he said; "Wait here, I… I have to make a call."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to talk to the 'phone-lady'," Leon answered, with his back turned against me. He threw the sunglasses to the ground, and walked a good distance away from me before he felt safe enough to pull the transmitter-thingamajig out of his pocket. I bent down to pick up the shades and put them back on. I saw that Leon was keeping an eye on me while he was talking to Hunnigan. Were they talking about me?

_If only I could hear them…__back in the house, I managed to hear that poor__ officer scream several kilometers away__. Maybe if I concentrate, I'll be able to hear what they're saying…?_

I focused intensely on Leon and his 'phone'. After a couple of moments, I managed to hear them as clearly as if they were standing on each side of me, bellowing into my ears.

_"…Happened to the people here,"_ I heard Leon's voice say.

_"Leon, you need to get out of there. Look for a tower, and follow the trail near it."_

_"Hold on, Hunnigan, there's something else._

There was an awkward moment of silence.

_"Hunnigan… do you know who Albert Wesker is?"_ Leon continued hesitantly.

_"Of course I do. Why?"_

_"Well… I don't know how I'm going to say this without sounding crazy, but he is here. __In the village."_

_"He is what?" _Hunnigan asked in disbelief_. "Here? __Now?"_

_"Yeah.__ Actually, I'm looking at him right now. But there is something wrong about him. I don't think he… is himself, if you get my meaning."_

_"No. I don't. Explain, Leon."_

_"He looks like Wesker. The same hair, facial features, voice, sunglass, fondness of black__and the eyes… __I've studied Umbrella for a long time. __I've studied Wesker for a long time. I know almost everything there is to know about him. I think__. And this guy here? There are two options here: either Wesker has completely lost it, become schizophrenic and got__ten__ some serious personality disorders… or that insane story he told me is true."_

_"Insane story?"_

Leon quoted me, almost word by word. The burning pain in my lungs made me realize I've been holding my breath during their entire conversation. I let the air out of me with a sigh of relief. Leon thinking I'm nuts was far better than him still believing me to be Wesker. I was far too pessimistic to hope that he actually believed my insane story. I just hoped that Leon's naïve, heroic instincts would make him take me with him.

_"Do you honestly believe that, Leon?"_ Hunnigan asked when Leon was finished talking. She sounded irritated. _"You think he really is a Norwegian, teenage girl?"_

_"I don't know what to believe, Hunnigan. He seems really desperate."_

_"What makes you so sure__ he isn't 'being himself'?"_

_"Because he talks like a teenager.__Pretty much.__ He seemed scared of his life when I pointed my gun at him.__And he has this really weird accent. __He is wearing a pin__k backpack… I could never imagine Wesker voluntarily putting it on. H__e__ begged __for me to __help__ him. __And…__ I know that Wesker is too damned proud of being Wesker to pretend to be anything else."_

_Hmph__. Fine.__ But be really careful, Leon, I mean it. Saving Ashley is your top priority."_

_"Copy that, Hunnigan."_

Leon hung up, and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He looked up at me and waved me to his side. I felt happy as a kitten in the sunlight when I ran towards him.

* * *

I was walking behind Leon as he raided the houses in the village, and stripped them of all the seemingly necessary items. He peeked over his shoulder a few times to make sure I was still there, but swiftly looked away every time. I had a feeling that the Government training has had a serious impact on his former naivety and innocence. After a while, Leon seemed done with searching for items. I expected him to follow the trail near the tower like Hunnigan told him to, but to my surprise he went straight for the heavy iron door with the cult's red insignia on.

"What's up with this symbol?" he asked, more to himself than to me.

"It looks like a Plaga," I said after having stared at it for a moment. Leon turned towards me with a raised eyebrow.

"What's a Plaga?"

"I… uh… it's… uh… Spanish! For bug!"

Leon gazed at the insignia with his head tilted.

"You're right," he said after a while. "It does look like a bug."

"Sooo… what now?"

"Well, this door is locked," he said, with a somewhat sad, longing stare at the iron door. "We'll have to follow the trail near the tower."

"Sooo… why don't we?"

"I don't know… it's just… I don't know. Let's go."

He swiftly turned on his heel and headed towards the path. I looked at him, then at the door and back at him again with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged, and jogged after him.

* * *

_This is SO humiliating._

I was sitting inside a dumpster, with my knees supporting my chin. Leon immediately ordered me into it the second we spotted the Ganados in the farm area. I had protested to it at first, but then he had rudely pointed out that I'd get in his way, and expose myself to harm if I was as inexperienced with combat as I claimed I was. I heard gunfire, angry yells from the villagers, and every now and then a cry of pain from Leon. I covered my nose to the incredibly foul stench inside the dumpster, a reek that made my eyes fill with tears. I had no idea what the extent of Wesker's superhuman powers were, but I was certain his sense of smelling had increased considerably.

_Stupid Leon forced me into this stupid dumpster. My respect for Ashley has increased, poor spoiled, rich girl having to go through all of this. I'll give Leon a piece of my mind when I get out of here. Or at least I'll stare very angrily at him._

I positioned myself into a more comfortable posture.

_Huh. This wasn't so bad after all. The suffocating darkness __covers all the gritty details inside this dumpster.__ If I breathe through my mouth, I won't sense the smell. __I__'m starting to feel really drowsy..__. Maybe I should just take a __nap,__ I should really have been in bed now anyway_

I closed my eyes and allowed all tension to leave my body. A second later, I heard Leon's loud whistle.

_No, I'm so tired. I don't want to come out, I want to sleep._

The whistle came again, more insisting this time. I pretended I didn't hear it. A few moments later an angry kick to the dumpster startled me so much I jumped up and hit my head.

"Ouch!"

I opened the dumpster, rose to a standing position and stared surprised at the handsome, smudged face of Leon. He stared angrily back at me.

"Why didn't you come when I called for you?" Leon asked, frowning. "If you want to get through this in one piece, you have to do what I tell you. I'm going to tell you right now that Hunnigan, or the phone-lady if you like, wasn't too pleased when I wanted to take you with me. My top priority is to save Ashley Graham, the President's missing daughter, and if you get difficult to deal with, I'll have no choice but to leave you."

I cringed.

"I'm sorry, Leon," I said and looked down at my shoes, feeling utterly ashamed of myself. I wished a black hole would appear under my feet and swallow me. I looked up in surprise when Leon patted me friendly on my shoulder.

"It's cool. Don't worry about it," Leon said with a sincere smile. I smiled beamingly back at him.

"Let's get going, shall we?"

"Okay, Leon!"

"Just one thing…"

"Yeah?"

"What am I supposed to call you? Your… real name isn't really appropriate."

"Uhh… just call me… I dunno, just call me Albert."

"You want me to call you Albert?"

"It's started to grow on me. Just don't mention the last part of the whole name."

"Okay…"

* * *

**Leon's point of view**

You're jogging calmly through the farmland to find items of interest. Several places, you see pretty, blue medallions hanging. As you're scrutinizing the main farmhouse, you see one dangling from the roof, and you're starting to wonder who'd be able to hang it to a roof seventeen feet from the ground, without any visible ways to climb up. A sound of a dry twig breaking behind you makes you spin around with your hand firmly placed on your gun holster.

Albert looks slightly taken aback by your aggressive reaction. In his gloved hand, he is clutching a blue piece of paper.

"Whatcha got there?" you ask curiously. Instead of answering, he hands it to you.

_About the blue medallions_

_Fifteen Medallions__... Seven in the farm, eight in the cemetery__... For those of you who destroy ten or more will be awarded…_

The rest is illegible…

"What is this?" you say quizzically, before you fold the paper and shove it down the pocket of your pants. "Some kind of competition?"

Albert shrugs and runs his fingers through his blonde hair.

"Beats me… some local contest, maybe? These farmers gotta have something to do to pass their time with, except from… you know, farming and making human sacrifices. Maybe… should we participate in this contest, Leon?"

Your eyebrows rise.

"I'd like that award," you say with a smile. Albert's face cracks into a warm, wide grin, revealing almost all of his teeth. You start hunting for the medallions, and after destroying all of them you decide to leave the farm. After exiting the gate, you see a rather unpleasant signpost with two human skulls dangling from it. It makes you feel at unease, like something bad is about to happen.

"Somehow I feel we're no welcome here," you say jokingly to Albert. He tries to force himself to smile in response, but clearly is feeling more nervous that you are. You start running down the path with your gun pulled out, when you hear a rumbling sound above you. You look up, and see a giant boulder about to fall down and crush you. It startles you for a split second before you're about to sprint, when you feel two strong arms grab you from behind and pull you roughly up the path. Albert trips and falls, still holding on to you. The boulder hits the ground only inches away from your feet. It rolls down and crashes into the mountainside.

"That was a close one," you say, shaking slightly as you're standing up. Albert starts brushing some dirt off of his black suit.

"Some reflexes you got there," you say to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh… yeah," he says while he is scratching the back of his head. "Reflexes…"

You turn your back on him, and run down the path, the metal in your pistol feels cold in your hands. You reach a small tunnel with shining objects stuck into the ceiling. You miss a couple of bullets when you shoot the spinels down, but it doesn't matter. You have this feeling that they will come in handy sooner or later. Albert sighs and opens his backpack, exposing all the previous items you have picked up.

"Wait here," you say firmly to him. He just nods, and straps the rather bulging, pink bag to his back again. You walk further into the tunnel, and reach a small fence. Upon seeing some of the unfriendly villagers, you quickly crouch down behind it. Your eyes widen when you see them holding dynamites. After reloading your gun, you throw a flash grenade at them, causing them to cry out and cover their eyes. You swiftly jump over the fence and start shooting at the villager closest to you. One bullet hits his forehead, one hits his shoulder, and the third hits the hand heis holding the dynamite in.

The explosion sends a shower of blood that hits your face. You swiftly wipe it away; no matter how many times you've experienced that in Raccoon City, you'll never get used to it. Not that you want to, either. You neutralize all of the remaining threats in the area, and then whistle Albert to your side. He peeks out from the tunnel before he starts jogging towards you. You can see him searching the ground for bear traps, and then smiling relieved when he has passed the field and reached you. You turn towards the large house behind the two other houses in the field. The door is chained shut with a solid-looking padlock.

_Is Ashley in there…?_

You swipe the padlock a few times with your knife before it's broken. The door is opened with an eerie, creaking sound.

"…This place is falling apart," Albert comments behind you. "How long have the villagers been like this…?"

You don't answer. Instead you proceed excitedly into the house, taking care of the deathtraps you come across. If only Ashley is in here, you can take her back to America and leave this wretched tomb of a village. You can hear a consistent banging noise in a corridor hidden behind an empty bookshelf. Your heart beats faster. You see a closet in the end of the corridor, and it's very apparent that someone's in there, trying to get out. Still, you feel like you can't be careful enough. After making sure Albert's leaning himself against the wall, next to you, you open the closet with your pistol aimed at the figure falling out. Your heart sinks in your chest. It's not Ashley.

The male villager stares horrified at your gun and shakes his head rapidly. You bend over him, and rip off the tape covering his mouth. He makes grimaces in pain.

"...A little rough, don't you think?" the long-haired man asks. You roll him on his stomach and starts removing the ropes binding him. "You're… not like them?"

"No. You?"

"Okay. I have only one, very important question; you got a smoke?"

"Got gum."

The sound of heavy footsteps causes the floor under you to tremble.

"Perfect," the man mumbles as an enormous, bald, bearded man with a hostile facial expression walks into the room, accompanied by two villagers. "The big cheese."

"What?!"

You charge at the man and swirl around to kick him. Your foot is stopped by an incredible force, and you turn your head towards him just in time to see him fling you almost effortlessly at the closet. It crushes at the impact, and you land roughly on the floor. With a last attempt at getting up, your consciousness fades away from you.

* * *


	4. Chapter 3: Merchant and Mendez

**AN: I wrote the Leon-part for three specific reasons: I wanted to experiment a little with second person view, which I am a huge fan of, and it works best with present time, although it's a bitch to write. Secondly… well, I don't really want to say. Spoils all the fun. So does the third point.**

**DISCLAIMER: No. I don't own Resident Evil 4.**

* * *

Chapter four: Merchant and Mendez 

* * *

I was sitting with my back up against someone and my head resting on a shoulder. Right at the moment, I wasn't sure whether the shoulder belonged to me or someone else, or if it was a shoulder at all. The last things I remembered were Leon being tossed like a ragdoll, and him and Luis conveniently fainting while I remained conscious. I wasn't stupid enough to try to attack Mendez, but that sure didn't stop him from going after me. After unsuccessfully trying to render me unconscious too, he barked an order to one of his subordinates, followed by a sharp sting to my leg, blackness and a soft thud. Then there were someone babbling about feeble humans and intoxicating powers, but I was too drugged up to grasp the entire situation.

_Yeah… Drug… The Ganado tranquil…lila…sized… me…_

I heard voices, unclear, like the sounds you hear underwater. My ability to concentrate wasn't exactly top-notch at the moment, but I focused hard on the voices and barely managed to make out a conversation.

"… name is Leon. I came here looking for this girl. Have you seen her?"

That was Leon's voice.

"What, are you supposed to be a cop or something? Nah, you don't look the type."

_Luis is here too..? I… LOVE that guy… or do I?_

"Maybe."

There was a short pause.

"Okay, let me guess," Luis said, sounding like he wanted to speed things up a little. "She's the president's daughter?"

"That's too good for a guess. Wanna start explaining?"

"Psychic powers," Luis answered, followed by a dramatic pause. "Nah, just kidding with you, amigo. I overheard one of the villagers talking something about the president's daughter in the church."

"And who might you be?"

"Me llamo Luis Sera. I used to be a cop in Madrid. Now I'm just a good-for-nothing guy, who happens to be quite the ladies man… apparently not just the ladies, either."

"Huh?"

I felt the shoulder moving under my squeezed cheek.

"Leon, I think he's coming on to me," Luis said jokingly. Leon chuckled. "Who is he?"

"No idea. Just call him Albert."

"Hey, Albie!" Luis grinned cheerfully. "Wakey, wakey!"

The shoulder moved more insistently, but my head was too heavy for me to move. Luis let out a sound of revulsion.

"Urgh! He's drooling on me!"

_Well, excuse me!_

"All over my shirt!"

"Are you okay?" Leon's voice asked, with a slight trace of worry in it. With great effort, I managed to open my eyes. My vision was blurry at first, but after blinking a few times, it improved. The skin between my eyebrows creased. My ears picked up the very slight sound of metal scraping on stiff soil, followed by low mumbling in a language I didn't understand. Luis and Leon forgot about me, and continued their conversation. I groaned and forced myself to sit up straight. The metal was no longer scraping against soil, but at solid concrete. I half-heartedly attempted to get my wrists free from the rope binding them tightly, gnawing at my skin.

"… think I might have seen a sample of the virus in the lab at my department," Luis finished, and swiftly moved his attention to the door when the source of the scraping staggered into the room.

"_Do something, cop!"_

"After _you_!"

"ARRGHH!" the Ganado growled, and lifted his axe to strike.

"_Now!"_

The men threw themselves away from each other, forgetting that I was still tied in with them. I was jerked backwards, and then heard a tearing sound, followed by metal falling heavily to the floor. A moment later, I realized I was able to move my arms freely. The furious Ganado tried to attack Leon again, but a swift movement from Leon's leg sent him crashing into the wall and to the floor with the repulsive sound of a bone break. Luis fled out of the room, obviously frightened. Leon didn't attempt to run after him. Instead, he picked up his phone to talk to Hunnigan again. I didn't pay any attention to their chatter, as I was striving to get to my feet. I stumbled and hit my head into the wall. I giggled.

"Ouch."

Leon came up to me, seized my arm and placed it around his shoulders to support me.

"Are you all right? What's wrong with you?"

My brows furrowed, and my eyes narrowed. My head was pounding steadily with each heartbeat. What on earth was in that drug? On second thought, I didn't want to know. I used the palm of my hand to wipe off the saliva caked on my chin.

"Hello?" Leon pouted impatiently as he shook me lightly. "Anyone home?"

"They… uh.. they…" I blinked sluggishly, almost tripped in Leon's legs. He pushed me back up, and walked me into the corridor out of the concrete room. "They… tranquillila… ssabl…"

"They _tranquillized_ you?"

I smiled idiotically, with my head tilted towards his shoulder.

"He, he… Yeah…"

Leon cursed under his breath, and gave me a rough jerk to straighten me up.

"Leon?"

"Yeah?"

"_Leon?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"I _love_ you, Leon."

Leon chuckled.

"That's the drugs talking."

"Will you _marry_ me?"

"Sorry, Albie."

"We use nicknames now?"

A cloaked man's face appeared in the small window in the corner of the corridor. Leon froze.

"Over here, stranger," he said hoarsely, and vanished out of sight. Leon walked me out of the door, and placed me on the cold ground, with my back leaning against the wall.

"Stay here, okay?" he said firmly. I just smiled in response as he turned his back to me and walked towards the Merchant's mobile gun-shop.

* * *

You almost aim your pistol at the hooded figure, his face hidden by a purple scarf and shadows from the hissing, blue torch next to him. You hesitate when you see that he doesn't act threateningly towards you. You can practically feel the friendly grin on his face as he says:

"Got something that might interest ya. He, he, he."

He shows you an impressive amount of different artillery strapped to his body. You feel your heart leap of joy. Finally, a local who wants to help you! For a price, of course. You start digging in your pockets for money. Most of it is in Albert's backpack, but you left it when you dragged him out of there, and you won't bother to go back to get it. You have a difficult time prioritizing; you can't afford much. But you eventually decide to buy a better shotgun.

After the purchase, the friendly merchant with the strange accent encourages you to come back any time. You run towards the rusty, iron gate leading away from the house. As you're passing Albert, you see that the adult man has curled himself to a ball and is now sleeping tightly. His shades are crookedly placed at the lower part of his nose bridge, his hair is starting to get messy and greasy, and his perfectly black suit is now caked in dirt. There is no doubt left in your mind that he – or she, rather – isn't the real deal. You look away from him and continue through the gate. An angry villager points at you and yells, attracting the attention from other villagers, now storming towards you. You reload your gun and fire at him, one of the bullets hitting his leg, causing him to lose balance and fall screaming over the edge of the path. You bite your lower lip, staying as close to the mountain wall as you can manage. The cracking sound of your 9 mm sending deadly bullet fragments at your enemies echoes through the valley along with the guttural, Spanish howls promising you an excruciating death. The metallic click of your pistol jamming echoes through your head, and sends a clammy, prickling chill down your spine. With a grunt, you throw a flash grenade at the mob, charge at them and kick the nearest villager, sending him into the others behind him. You force your way through the crowd, pushing some of them over the edge at the same time as you're fending off hungry hands reaching for your throat. Your heart is beating rapidly in your chest, but you refuse to allow yourself to panic.

_They are too many! I have to find a spot where they can't attack me from several places at once._

You swiftly discover a house up to the north in the valley, with only one ladder and very few possible places to attack you from. You dart between villagers to reach the house, with your confidence rising inside you. If only you keep your head cold, you can make it through this. A nail badly hammered into a plank lying on the ground, pierce the sole of your right shoe, and sinks into your foot. You scream of pain, but quickly stifle it and ignore the searing sensation prickling in your entire foot and lower part of your calf. You climb up the ladder, and kick it down the second you step on the roof. You switch to your newly purchased shotgun, and shoot a villager clutching dynamite on the other side of the village, while you prepare yourself for the horde storming to the house.

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking against the strong, pale light. I pushed the sunglasses back in place, and got on my feet. Confusion struck me as I realized that I wasn't the feeling the least funny or tired, and my balance seemed normal again.

_Maybe the viral cocktail in Wesker's body got rid of the drug? How convenient._

I hurried to the Merchant's location, wondering if he was still there.

"Yo!" I greeted when I saw him, and waved my arm at him.

"See something you like, stranger?" he responded, and opened his cloak to show me his weapons.

"Yeah, plenty, but I can't use a gun. Can you teach me?"

The Merchant chuckled.

"No problem, mate, but I can't teach you anything here. You'll have to wait until next time we meet."

"Alright, Merchant… see you later."

"Come back any time," he said cheerfully behind me. Then he added; "Your jacked is ruined, stranger."

"Huh?"

I removed the suit jacket, and to my horror discovered a long fissure in the back of it.

"Aw, man… bad things always happen to good clothes."

I folded it as neatly together as I could manage, and dropped it on the ground. I've always thought the turtleneck thread of mystery Wesker wears under his suit to be a thin, tight sweater, but it turned out to be a t-shirt. I ran into the house to pick up the backpack, carefully avoiding looking at the dead Ganado, and headed for the gate. I could see Leon finishing off Ganados in the far end of the valley. While he was busy, I decided to find the pieces to the door key I knew we would have to pass to get out of this valley. Almost tripping in a pitchfork on the way up the path to the highest point in the valley, I heard Leon's voice shout;

"ALBERT!"

I looked down and waved in his direction. He waved hesitantly back, smoke coming out of the red-hot barrel of his shotgun. All of the Ganados were now dead, and disintegrating into appalling, bubbly, yellow pools. I shuddered in disgust.

_Urgh, that's just nasty._

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?" Leon roared while he was picking his pistol apart.

"I'M LOOKING FOR THE KEY TO THE EXIT!" I hollered back, and pointed at the great, silvery gate near the house he was standing on. He glanced at it, and stared at me again with a quizzical look on his face.

"YOU CAN SEE IT ALL THE WAY FROM UP THERE?"

"YEAH! HELP ME LOOK FOR THE KEY!"

"WHAT?"

"I SAID; LOOK! FOR! THE! KEY!"

Leon nodded, and jumped down. He disappeared into the house, while I continued up the road. I reached the chest with the left half of the key in it. I ran down to the house with the second half, but Leon got there before me. He glanced at me without a word, and headed for the exit, with an odd limping gait. There, he tore my half out of my hand, and connected it to his before he inserted it in the door. He groaned and sat down with his hands wrapped around his right foot. With painful grimaces, he removed his shoe and blood-soaked white sock, revealing a red, smudged hole through his foot.

"Leon!" I exclaimed with shock. "Ouch!"

"No kidding," he muttered back, with his palms pressing against the wounds. I took my backpack off, and started digging for herbs. I found a red one and a green one, although they looked slightly mashed, they would patch up his wound nicely. I crushed them into a fine powder, and rubbed them into both ends of the hole. Leon shoved his fist into his mouth to prevent himself from making too much of a racket. I thought it was weird, but perhaps just a male need of his to seem as masculine as possible.

"Are you okay?" I asked worried when he was putting on his footwear again.

"I think so."

"Can you walk? Do you want me to support you?"

"No, I'm fine," he answered as he rose to his feet again. "Let's just get out of here, and find Ashley."

* * *

Your body stiffens as you see the same unsettling signpost with skulls dangling from it, swaying slightly in the wind. Your gaze moves to the large, worn-down villa up the small hill. Albert steps next to you, with a facial expression of utter displeasure as he twists his t-shirt to squeeze the water out of it. The corners of your mouth twitch a little.

"How did you manage to fall off a fenced platform?" you ask amused, referring to his accident in the water-works. Albert gives you a rather sourly glare under his sunglasses.

"It was slippery!" he exclaims as he pulls the t-shirt down over his head. He adjusts his shades a little and runs his fingers through his wet, filthy hair. You think he was lucky not to have hurt himself seriously, but you remember that Wesker no longer follows the normal, physical laws of humans. For a split second you're happy that Albert is not in his original body, because if he was, he – well, she – would most likely get killed sooner or later. You rush towards the villa, up the stairs to the entrance, only to be stopped by a door without a doorknob. Instead, there was a large, blue crystal ball with an iron figure inside it. You see two insignias below it, the same symbol you saw at the solid, metal door in the village. You put two and two together, and turn the ball until the iron figure matches the insignias.

_Click._

Something's activated…

The door opens, and you step into the room with your pistol drawn. In the room are a bookshelf, a table and a chair, some paintings, a bed, and a large closet. You walk to a sparkling object on a little shelf in the room, and snatch it. It's a key with the same insignia as before. Your gaze moves to the bed that appears to be clean, unlike the blood-stained ones you saw in the village. There's a note laying on it. As you reach for it, Albert walks into the room with a victorious grin and a pearl pendant dangling from his fist. He hands it to you.

"Where did you get it?" you ask, slightly puzzled.

"Found it," he answers casually. You give him the pendant back. Your sharp intuition sends a prickling feeling down your spine, and goose bumps pops up all over your skin.

"Put it in the backpack," you say. "And hide in the closet, something's not right here."

"How do you know?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"I know. Just do it."

He shrugs and walks toward the closet. You open the door leading out of the bedroom, and walk cautiously into the corridor when you hear a Spanish conversation downstairs. Sudden sounds behind you makes you spin around, and in a split second your feet are flailing in the air and you are unable to breathe. The big cheese is scrutinizing you with a bored expression on his face, and tightens his grip on your throat. The pain is excruciating, and the lack of oxygen and blood to your brain makes your vision blurry, with bright colors invading it. You struggle to get loose, and just as the world starts to turn black, the attacker drops you to the floor. You draw as deep a breath as you can muster, and place a hand around your throbbing throat.

"You carry the same blood as us it seems," Cheese says gruffly, with his red eye and blue eye fixed on you. "Nevertheless; you're an outsider. If you become unpleasant to our eyes… you'll face severe consequences."

He turns on his heel and walks into the bedroom you just left. You stagger to your feet, still with your hand around your throat.

"What..? The same blood…?"

* * *


	5. Chapter 4: Fury and closed churches

**AN:****Big thanks to my only fan so far, Misty Maxwell, for still reading this fic. I'm having fun writing, so the lack of reviews doesn't really matter since I really enjoy writing this story. Although I'd like some more reviews… oh, well.**

**Here's the fourth chapter! There will be detailed violence and gore in this one.**

* * *

Chapter four: Fury and closed churches 

* * *

"Itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout

Then came the acid rain and washed the spider out

Down came the sunshine through the ozone hole

And cooked itsy bitsy spider into spider casserole…"

In the darkness of the armoire, I was singing the MAD-version of Itsy Bitsy spider to myself to pass time and make the silence less smothering. I quickly closed my mouth when I heard the door open and heavy footsteps closing in on me.

_Leon isn't that heavy… is it Mendez?_

I held my breath in fear that it would expose my hiding spot. The footsteps ceased, but I could still feel his cold, hostile presence infect the whole room, penetrating into the deepest corners of my mind, spreading like a disease to my body. Mendez cleared his throat, almost like he knew I was there and wanted me to know how close he was. I forced nearly my entire fist into my mouth to stop myself to make any sound that could attract his attention. A moment later, the sound of the door suddenly open again made me jump, and I grimaced in pain as my teeth sunk into my hand. Then came the sound of Mendez brutally backhanding Leon, followed by a gunshot.

_Should I help him…? _

Leon groaned in pain as Mendez stepped on his chest, attempting to crush Leon under his massive weight. I rested my left hand and right cheek on the door, feeling worry and guilt.

_Why am I not helping him…?_

Two gunshots echoed through the room. Then rapid, heavy footsteps and a window shattered into pieces.

There were no sounds left in the room but Leon's heavy breathing.

"Leon?" I whispered as I stood up, still with my hand on the door. "Are you okay…?"

The armoire-doors opened with a squeaking sound, and the sweaty, striking face of Leon appeared in my view. I seized the backpack, and stepped out.

"Why didn't you help me?"

Leon didn't sound blaming, only curious. It almost made the question sting more. I cringed.

"…The door was locked from the outside," I said hesitantly. "I couldn't get out without a doorknob."

Well. It was true enough, but not the reason. Leon raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"How did you manage to lock yourself in if it can only be locked from the outside?" he asked.

"How did I manage to fall off a fenced platform?" I retorted quickly. Leon laughed. It was a very unusual sound, and at least as welcome. I grinned widely, feeling a growing warmth in my chest spread to my cheeks.

"Well, we should get going," Leon said, smiling. I nodded. We walked out of the room, and down the stairs. Leon looked at the set table in the living room with a thoughtful expression. He traced his finger along the edge of the table, his eyes turning glassy and empty. I wondered what he was thinking about, but quickly moved my attention to the painting hanging above the fireplace. My eyes were fixed on the landscape, recognizing the lake containing the salmon of doom. I could see how the painter's hand had moved over the canvas with rough strokes from his paintbrush. The emotion of it was of despair. Of loss. Of death. It made me feel at unease. I didn't quite agree with Ada in her harsh criticism of it. A hand fell softly on my shoulder, and the sudden sensation made my entire body twitch violently. Leon quickly removed his hand, looking both surprised and slightly worried.

"Did I scare you?" he asked, with a dumbfounded tone in his voice that made me smile weakly.

"Sorry. I jump easily at sudden movements, sudden sounds… to say it the complicated way, all sudden stimulations of my senses startle me."

"Whoa. I'll try to remember that. We've got to get going."

We walked to the exit door, him leading the way. My heart went cold as I realized that dr. Salvador patiently awaited us on the other side of the door.

_I can't chicken out this time. I have to make myself useful._

Leon opened the door, stiffening as he saw the unlicensed doctor standing peacefully at the other end of the backyard, swaying gently from side to side.

"You should get back into the house," Leon murmured quietly.

"N-no… I'm staying with you."

Leon slowly pulled out his shotgun, and stepped forward. Salvador's face jerked up. With a roar, he got the chainsaw running and stormed towards Leon and me. Leon popped a shot at him, but it only made him totter a little, before he raised his lethal tool and charged. We jumped to each side as he struck, leaving him in the middle of us. I was a little closer to him than I wanted to, so I staggered to my feet and stepped away from him. He was still standing with his chainsaw pointing at the ground, his back and head bent at an unhealthy angle. He raised his head slowly, my eyes widened in horror as it turned slowly towards me.

"Albert, get away from him!" Leon yelled, and fired once more at Salvador. He groaned from the impact, seconds before the chainsaw's metallic rumbling made my auditory canals tremble, a flash of silver shot down at my face.

* * *

My hands were tightly wrapped around the engine and handle of the chainsaw, which at this moment was jerking back and forth in the air, due to my effort to shove it away from me and his effort to kill me. Salvador and I were glaring at each other, I through the sunglasses, he through the holes in the bag covering his face. His orange eyes were gleaming with hatred and loathe, and his breath felt hot and sour on my face. I gritted my teeth from the strain of pushing back such a tremendous force, lactic acid was seeping into the muscles of my arm. His eyes narrowed, and I could have sworn I heard a dry, low laughter from under the bag.

"Little human," he whispered softly with his wretched, guttural voice. My eyes widened from the shock of hearing _it_ speak. "I see you. All of your sickening body and corrupted mind. Your aura is infecting this village with your disease, your nauseating weakness, your hunger for flesh. Your shades hides nothing of you; you are just a fragile, pathetic human female with blood-stained hands, just like the rest of your kin, and you allow yourself to think high of yourself because you are what you are, you allow yourself to eat corpses, to kill other organisms, because they are not like you. Hate does not equal one billionth of what I feel towards you, the way you hold my hands and pollute my very being… death is the only thing you deserve, and you should be grateful that I am willing to bestow you it."

My world exploded. All of my logic, thoughts, and feelings were replaced by an overwhelming fury, pumping adrenaline in to every vessel in my body, making my vision blur and turn a crimson red color. The taste of stomach acid made me gag slightly, and somehow fuel my rage until only one impulse was stuck in my head:

_KILL!_

I roared with all my might, and tore the chainsaw out of his hands. He stumbled backwards, his eyes opened wide in surprise. I swung my freshly obtained weapon at his neck, and grinned with gritted teeth as I heard his agonized scream. The blade of the chain sunk into deeply into his flesh, his blood spouted out of it and hit my face, my clothes, my hair. An eternal moment later, his head was no longer attached to his body, and he would never be able to take another breath again. I was standing over his remains, still with the chainsaw clutched in my hands so tightly my knuckles whitened. I started laughing, loudly, wildly, in victory.

"What are you doing?!"

I looked up, and saw Leon's smudged face twisted in shock and terror. The laughter ceased immediately. The chainsaw slipped out of my hands as I stepped away from him and fell to the ground. I stared empty-eyed at the gray sky above me, my internals were turning cold and numb. My hands trembled as they touched the blood-stained, pale skin on my face. I rolled over in a fetal position as I shivered and started to cry uncontrollably.

* * *

You open the gate to the village, with the insignia key clutched in your hand. With your eyes fixed on it, you rub your throat and cringe from the pain of squeezing the large bruises on it. You look around to see Albert, gazing down at his shoes, walking without a word next to you. When he realizes you have stopped, he looks up at you with his eyebrows raised.

"Are you okay?" you ask, for the fourth time since the incident with the chainsaw-wielding madman. He frowns and looks down at his shoes again.

"Yes. No. Yes." He folds his arm, and kicks a small rock. "No. Yes?"

"What's the matter, Albie?"

"I killed a guy, Leon. I killed him, and laughed at him."

You swallow and look away. Yes, he did laugh. But you shouldn't have allowed them to end up in that duel, should you? You should have shot the chainsaw-man. But you didn't. You froze. You had heard him mumble something before Albert snapped and took matter into his own hands.

"It's my fault. I should have shot him," you say apologetically.

"You didn't force me to laugh. You didn't force me to enjoy killing him."

"Nooo… but this place does something to you. It messes with your head. You would never have laughed, and never have killed him, if this place hadn't forced you to it."

"Nooo… maybe?" he looks up at you; his face lightens up a little. "You think so?"

"Yeah, I do," you say, and smile. He grins beamingly back at you. But there's still one question you have been dying to ask;

"What did he say to you?"

His smile fades, and he looks at the ground.

"I… he… uhm… it's… it's not important."

"It must have meant something. You attacked him right after that."

You bite your lower lip. You should probably not push him, but you have always been a curious man. He thinks about it for a while.

"…I don't know," he says hesitantly. His face turns towards you. "I don't think it meant… a _lot_…. It's just that I was so frightened, I mean _incredibly_," he gestures with his hands, like he is trying to find a better word, but can't, "frightened. And then he mocked me. And it made me feel angry, as well as frightened. Horrified. And then… I just snapped. I couldn't control myself. I had to kill him."

He looks desperately at you. You sigh and scratch the back of your head.

"It's okay, Albie. It was in self-defense. It was… brave of you."

For some reason, he looks even more saddened by your words. Your brows furrows. What did you say wrong?

"Uh… let's just go and find Ashley."

He smiles weakly at you. "Heh. Okay. Wanna lead the way, Actionhero?"

Your brow rises in amusement.

"Actionhero?"

"You gave me a nickname. I have to give you one."

"Hm. Fair enough."

You walk into the village, your pulse pacing up when you see farmers in there. You are running short on ammo and decide it's better to just run past them. Besides, if Albert was to snap again, this isn't the place to break down and cry.

"Mierda," a farmer complains, before his eyes meet yours. His jaw drops comically, and his finger points at your face, quivering with anger. "Allí está!"

"Mátalo!"

You ignore him, grab the arm of Albert's t-shirt and run past him. The villager's finger follows you as you run. Albert protests a little at being dragged like this, but you don't trust him to run with you voluntarily. The other farmers stares a little dumbfounded at the two of you, before their faces wretch in fury and they lift whatever they're holding in their hands to attack. You scurry past them and knock a villager off her feet before you reach the door. You're surprised at the steadiness of your hand as you slot in the insignia key. The door opens with a metallic clicking sound, and you push Albert in before you jump in yourself and fling the door shut. You insert the key once again, and just as it turns and locks the door, someone slams into the door in an attempt of forcing it open.

"Nice work, Actionhero," Albert says, sounding relieved. You smile at him.

"Thanks, Albie."

You walk past him, through the room, and into a poorly lit hallway. There is a hatch in the floor, leading to an underground tunnel. You jump down and run up and down the curving tunnel and slow down when you see a familiar, blue torch.

"Evenin', stranger," the merchant greets. Albert steps into the room, staring at his hand with an expression of disgust.

"Eww, what the heck is this _phlegm?"_ he moans, referring to the slime that is dripping from his hand.

"How did you get that on you?"

"I touched the walls," he answers, and shudders. He proceeds to remove his glove, finger by finger. "I won't do that again."

Albert removes the other glove too, and upon seeing the merchant, he exclaims excitedly; "Hey, will you teach me how to shoot now?"

The merchant chuckles and steps aside, revealing bottles lined up on a small table on the ground. He walks up to Albert and hands him a pistol.

"That's the Blacktail, stranger," the merchant explains. "It's not the most powerful gun, but it has a superior handling, and should be pretty easy to use for a newbie like you." He hesitated for a second before adding; "It's loaded and ready to use. If you want it, you'll have to pay for it."

He gives Albert a chummy pat on the back and steps aside to allow him to try out the pistol. Albert gives you an insecure glance. You just smile and nod. You should have thought about teaching him to use a gun, but you have been too busy keeping him and yourself alive. He aims toward one of the bottles. He shoots.

Miss.

"Damn," he pouts, before giving it another try.

Miss.

"_Damn it!"_ You see him gritting his teeth, his finger trembling on the trigger. He pulls it.

Miss.

"Goddamn it!" He is grimacing in frustration. _"Goddamn it!"_

"You're probably just stressed," you comfort him. He shakes his head angrily and shoves the pistol back into the merchant's hand.

"What the hell is the point of me learning how to shoot if I can't shoot when I'm 'stressed'?" he barks, and turns to the merchant. "Do you have any melee weapons or anything? Something I can whack people with?"

"Is that a special order, stranger?" the merchant asks cheerfully. Albert curses.

"You don't have one. Perfect."

Albert starts taking spinels and treasures he has found out of his backpack and shows them to the merchant.

"How much for these?"

* * *

My eyes wandered indifferently over the tombstones in the cemetery, and rested on the church behind it. I've never been much of a spiritual person, but there was something disturbingly unholy about it. I noticed Leon staring at it too, with the same longing, sad expression he had staring at the door in the village. I turned my attention to a shovel sticking up from the ground in front of one of the tombstones. It could make a decent weapon until Merchant sold me something better. I walked up to it and jerked it up from the hard soil.

"Great," I muttered to myself. "A Silent Hill weapon in a Resident Evil game."

"What?" Leon said perplexed behind me.

"Uh, nothing. Never mind."

Leon started running up the path to the church, his eager pace making it difficult for me to keep up. He fired at the Ganados coming down to welcome us. A female villager popped out of nowhere next to me, her fingers tightened around my throat, rendering me unable to breathe. I easily broke free from her grip, and swung my shovel around. It hit her face with such force it knocked her off her feet. She tried to stagger back up, but I struck again. This time she stayed motionless on the ground. A sudden yank from the shovel made me turn around to stare right into the face of a Ganado attempting to jerk my weapon out of my hands.

_Why are they so ugly?_

Another Ganado rushed towards me, wild-eyed, with a hatch clutched in his hand. A shot from Leon's pistol made him fall flat on his face. I kicked the other Ganado with much force in his abdomen, making him lose his grip on the shovel. I lifted it to hit him, but Leon's gunshots killed him before I had the chance to strike. I looked quizzically up at him.

_Is he trying to spare me from having to hurt the Ganados?_

Leon nodded at me, and waved me up to his side. He turned on his heel, and rushed to the church door. I walked calmly behind him, knowing that he wouldn't be able to open it anyway. A gruff curse confirmed it. He picked up his phone with an irritated expression on his face.

"Hunnigan? The door is locked, I can't get in…"

* * *


	6. Chapter 5: Del Lago

**AN: Del Lago is my favorite boss, right after Krauser (not the knife fight, I hate that). **

**I must admit I wasn't fully honest in the last AN. It would be very nice if you took the time to tell me what you think.**

* * *

Chapter five: Del Lago

* * *

"Look! There's another one!" 

I pointed at a blue medallion hanging from the wooden bridge in a thin cord. It was swaying calmly in the wind, almost hypnotizing. A loud crack made me jump, and a split second later the beautiful, blue medallion was shattered into pieces. Leon lowered his gun with a smug look on his face. I raised my eyebrow and smiled at him.

"Yeah, yeah. You're a decent shot. Wipe that smirk off your face."

Leon grinned even wider.

"You're just jealous."

"Of course," I answered, and stuck my tongue out.

I followed him further down the bridge. My sharp eyes caught the blue glimpse under another part of the bridge. When we were closer to it, Leon saw it too, and aimed for it. 

* * *

Ashley was sitting with her back up against some barrels in the dark room, rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped around her legs. She was out of tears, and that was perhaps a good thing, seeing as her eyes were red and swollen and her make-up was smeared all over her face. She wished she had a mirror, so she could see herself and clean her face up. More than anything, she wished for a knight in shining armor to come and rescue her. She tucked her legs closer to her chest, and rested her chin on her knees.

_Will anyone save me? Does anyone know where I am?_

A plank was lying on the floor, in the other side of the room. She got on her feet and wrapped her thin fingers tightly around it. If anything, she was at least going to give the next "person" to walk into the room a nasty bruise. ..

* * *

You walk into a large, open area of some kind, with your hand clutching your 9 mm. A rumbling growling sends chills down your spine. Albert steps up next to you, looking tense and anxious. 

"Can you hear that?" he mutters to you, squeezing his shovel to his chest. You nod – of course you hear it. You're not deaf. Albert adjusts his sunglasses, before saying:

"You know… uh… I think the next time we… uh… walk through here… you have all of your weapons reloaded and ready to use. Just in case."

Again, you nod. Your gaze moves to some worn-down shacks. There could be ammo and money in there. More for Albert to carry. 

"Leon, look!"

You look in the direction he is pointing. A very faint sparkle in the mountain walls above a large, sturdy gate; by the sound of it the source of the growling. You aim for it, but then Albert lays a hand on your pistol and shakes his head.

"Don't. It looks fragile. If you shoot it, it may break. I could go and get it…"

You lower your gun and frown. Fragile? How can he possibly see if it's fragile? Oh. Right. It's easy to forget what he really is made of when he acts like a human being. But still, you think it's a miracle that none of the other treasures you have shot down have gotten as much as a scratch. You look back at him with a stern look on your face.

"Alright… but be careful, it sounds like the rumbling comes from behind that gate."

He swallows. He walks up to the gate, flings his backpack to the ground and makes a few half-hearted attempts at jumping up.

"Try to bend your knees more," you yell behind him. "And try to jump fast!"

He sighs, and tries again. Suddenly, he disappears in a flash of black and flies up screaming and flailing his arms and legs. He crashes into the mountain wall, trying to get a hold on something, but his grip slips off the wet rock and he falls down with a thump to the hard soil. The air is knocked flat out of him, and he kicks with his legs from the pain. There is a terrible wheezing sound emerging from his lungs as he frantically tries to take a deep breath. 

"Albie!" you cry out as you rush towards him. You place a hand on his chest, and reach for the backpack. Suddenly, he wraps his fingers around your wrist, and squeezes so hard you're worried he is going to break something.

"Albert, let go!"

"…Can't… breathe…" he wheezes, his eyes watering. You try to break free from his iron grip, and fail miserably.

"Bullshit," you reply angrily," if you can talk, you can breathe. Just calm down. Take it easy, okay?"

So he does. At least he tries to. He loosens his clutch on your wrist. You pull it in to you and rub it. Albert is continuing to twist in agony, but after a few minutes he stops. His breathing is a lot calmer now. You sigh in relief.

"Are you okay?" you ask. He nods weakly. "Think you can walk?"

You grab him by his wrist and elbow, and haul him to a stand. You try to place his arm around your shoulders to support him, but he shakes his head and pulls his arm to his chest. With his hands on his knees, he is taking deep, shivering breaths. 

"Let's not try that again," you say to him with a slight smirk. He nods, and straightens himself up. You're about to walk out of the area when you spot a note stitched to the wall of shack nr. 3. Curious, you stroll over to it, tear it off and start reading.

_Dear German, teenage girl_

_I have wanted to talk to you again, but I haven't really had the opportunity to meet you just yet. I still don't, but if you go to the house on the other side of the lake and wait for me, I'll come as soon as I get the chance to. Videogames don't seem as fun now, do they? Anyways; I'm not here to give you a speech, at least not until we meet. I urge you to be careful when you cross the lake, and I'm sure you already know why._

_Best regards,_

_William Burke_

"Whatcha got there?" Albert asks over your shoulder. You hand the note to him.

"I'm Norwegian!" he roars angrily as he is reading. _"Norwegian!"_

"Burke… isn't that the detective you told me about?" you ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Precisely so."

"What does he mean by 'videogames'…?"

Albert gives you a short glance from behind his shades, before he snorts. "He is insane. Absolutely koo-koo. He doesn't have to mean anything by anything he says." 

He rips the note into pieces, and walks in an angry gait towards the exit.

* * *

I opened the door to the tunnel leading to the merchants hide-out. For once I was the one to walk in front of Leon, no doubt because of my bad mood. That Burke! Rrrrrghh! I was contemplating on giving his face a few painful kisses from my shovel. Hopefully, something better if the Merchant had had the opportunity to fetch another melee weapon.

_Then we'll see how pretty you are!_

I jumped down the ladder Leon-style, and walked onto the underground dock. The sight of the beautiful, blue torch immediately washed all my anger away. I walked up to the Merchant, eyeing all of his merchandise with a longing expression on my face.

"Welcome, stranger!" the Merchant greeted. He bent down under the desk to pick up something. A moment later a katana, a maul and a large, sturdy sledgehammer laid in front of me in all of their glory. Leon stepped up next to me and traced his finger along the blade of the katana. He gave me a little wink.

"I think this would suit you," he said, with a boyish grin. I rolled my eyes. Men!

"Me with a katana?" I answered, with a raised eyebrow. "It sure is fancy, but what if we get cornered by a large group of enemies? It takes only one, eager swing with it and BAM! You don't have a head no more."

Leon shrugged. I seized the maul. The round, pointy end looked lethal. It could certainly discourage smart enemies from attacking. Leon looked at it with a raised brow.

"You're going for that one?" he asked, sounding smug. "It takes only one, eager swing with it and my face is crushed into a bloody pulp. Same goes for the hammer."

I glared at him and bit my lower lip. Damn him! He was right. Should I just stick with the shovel?

"I need to think about it," I mumbled to the merchant, and put the maul down. He just chuckled.

"The nearest shop's in a cave by the lake," he said, and removed the articles from the desk. "Watch out for them fishes in the lake. They can get real big."'

I snorted. "Thanks for the warning."

"Anytime, stranger."

* * *

"Leon." I pointed towards the large boulder on the mountainside. I couldn't see any Ganados, but I was certain they were there, waiting for an unwanted tourist they could squash. Leon looked up and back at me, nodding. He ran towards the path and froze as the Ganados started pushing the boulder. He threw himself up the path, the boulder missed, and rolled down. A few moments later we heard a loud crash. Leon gave me the thumbs-up sign. I grinned.

_If only it was possible to do that in the game…_

Leon brushed some dirt off his pants. I tilted my head as I scrutinized him. Even with unspeakable grime in his hair, caked blood and Plaga goo on his face, he still had "N'Sync-keeps-asking-me-to-join"-prettyboyish good looks. I shook my head.

_Only in videogames…_

He waved at me, and then started running down the stony path. I ran after him, with the shovel clutched in my hands. I didn't like this area. I wasn't very fond of water. 

"Te voy a matar!" (I'm going to kill you!)

Or Ganados.

"Albert, stay behind me and watch my back," Leon ordered.

"Alrighty-o, Actionhero."

* * *

You reload your upgraded 9 mm. and fire a new bullet between the eyes of the villager storming towards you. His head is jerked backwards with a spout of blood and brain tissue, and he falls with a sigh to the walkway. Two other villagers storms towards you, you run towards them and shoot at the leg of the closest one. He falls to his knees, and you swirl a kick that sends him flying backwards, colliding into the other villager. It's time to finish them. You put your gun away, and pull out your shotgun. The loud sound of the shot scares some ravens away, and your enemies flies over the edge of the walkway. Blood and an unidentifiable yellow substance hit your eyes. Ouch. As you try to wipe it away, you see a villager in the water run towards you, clutching a pitchfork. You grin as he is closing in, not lifting a finger to take him out. A second later, he runs into one of the villagers own bomb traps.

Urgh. That was nasty.

"Uh… Leon?"

"Yeah?" you grunt back, trying to blink out the stuff in your eyes.

"Problems!"

You turn around and see a horde coming towards you from the stony path. Damn. You clutch your shotgun and shove Albert angrily behind you. You pull the trigger, again and again and again, until there is only one man standing. He stretches his arms towards you, not as a last attempt to kill you, but more like a plea for help. A tear sparkle at his grayish, pale skin.

"Grazias…"

He moans and falls to the ground. You frown.

_What the hell was that all about?_

You turn around to see Albert reluctantly jump down into the water on the other side of the walkway.

"_Albert!"_

"Come on, Actionhero!"

You sigh. He is a pain in the ass sometimes. A lot of times. You chase after him, jump into the water and climb up the second walkway. Albert is whacking a villager up ahead. The villager seems like a sturdy guy, and you mutter under your breath that Albert wouldn't have had any problems with the katana.

"Are you finished messing around?" you pout in annoyance as you reach him. He looks quizzically at you.

"I was just trying to help," he answers in defense.

"You're a lot more helpful when you're next to _me._ I can't defend you when you run off like that."

"You don't have to mother me, Leon…"

"You have yet to prove that," you snap, and walk past him. Then you smile.

"Are you flashing your tongue at me?"

Albert sounds shocked. "How did you know?"

You don't answer. The two of you continue walking up the path, and you hesitate as it splits. Which way should you go? The left one that continue up, or the right one that goes down?

"Let's go right," Albert says quickly. "It leads down to a dock, and we need to cross that lake either way."

"Are you sure? There might be some useful items -"

"Yes, I'm sure."

You shrug. Right it is. As you approach the dock, you see a boat big enough for the two of you. And it has an engine too. Wonderful. Without hesitation, you jump down into it, your eyebrow rise as you see the harpoons. Albert is still standing on the dock, clenching and opening his fists. You stare puzzled at him.

"What's the matter?" 

"Uh… the merchant said there are really big fish in this lake…"

A slight trace of worry crosses your mind, but you quickly wave it off. You smirk. Fish, eh?

"Come on, Albie, a fish can't kill you."

He looks desperately at you. You roll your eyes and sigh.

"You wanna stay here until I come back?"

He looks down at his shoes and kicks a small pebble off the dock.

"No."

"Jump in, then."

He reluctantly jumps in, in front of you. You get the engine running, and steer the boat towards the other side of the lake. Albert has his hands on both sides of the boat, clenching them until his knuckles whiten. Now you're really starting to get worried. What's he so afraid of? 

Something slams into the boat, almost causing you to lose balance. You look around you in confusion. Suddenly the boat is jerked forwards, a massive, gray serpent of some kind emerges from the water and to your horror you realize that the anchor is stuck in the back of the creature.

"Hold on, Albert!" you yell, and reach for a harpoon. You barely manage to steer the boat away from debris in the water. Albert seizes a harpoon too, and throws it at the beast. A shower of blood from the wound hits you with such force it almost knocks you off the boat. As you aim for it, the serpent ducks underwater.

"Snu til høyre, til høyre!" Albert screams in terror. You have no idea what he is saying, but the frantic waving of his arm to his right gives you a pretty clear idea what he means. You maneuver it to the direction of his gesturing, just as the creature's head surfaces and almost take a big chomp of the vessel. The boat is starting to fill with water; the impact from the monster had made a hole in the side of it. In panic, Albert tears off his t-shirt and tries to plug the vessel with it. You take another harpoon and throw it at the beast, just before it submerges again.

"Grab one," you order Albert, pointing at the harpoons. "Look out for that monster!"

With your wet, cold hand clutched around the lethal weapon, your eyes dart back and forth in search of the serpent. A squeal from Albert behind you makes you spin around, staring right into the gaping mouth of the creature. Slimy tentacles of some kind are wiggling inside it. Gross. Instantly, you fling the harpoon at it, forcing it to submerge. The boat is jerked so violently Albert crashes into you and you topple over the boat. You manage to get a grip before you are hurled into the lake. Albert apologizes and haul you back in. You are soaking wet and shivering from the icy temperature, but you pay no attention to it. With gritted teeth, you clutch a new harpoon and aim.

The harpoon flies gracefully and hits the head of the serpent with a sickening sound. It howls in agony, twitches, before it sinks into the sea. You manage to see four legs under its massive body. 

_Huh. It's a newt._

That's the last thing you manage to think before something tightens around your calf, and jolts you off your feet. You groan from the pain, but quickly assess the situation, grab your knife and start slashing with all your might at the rope trying to pull you under. Albert tries to haul the rope out of the water to ease the strain on your ankle, and fails miserably. No wonder really, that newt looks like it weighs several tons. With one last cut, you're free! The rope whizzes off the boat, and into the lake. Albert screams, and looks at his hands.

"Brennmerker! Satan, det gjør vondt!" (Burnmarks! Satan, that hurts!)

You look at his hands. The rope had torn away skin. It looks painful. You want to fetch an ice spray and use it on his palms to make the pain fade away, but something doesn't feel right. You feel nauseous. Dizzy. You have to take the boat to the dock on the other side of the lake first, in case you are about to faint. Albert's continuing to curse, while rocking back and forth and staring at his hands. The boat bumps as it hits the dock. You stumble out of it, and towards the house in front of you. The muscles in your abdomen contracts and you bend over and cough violently, getting an unpleasant warm, metallic taste in your mouth as you see a mixture of blood and saliva on your hand. What's happening to you? Oh dear. You are going to faint. You can't lose consciousness here; an enemy might find you. You stagger towards the house. With the last of your strength, you fling the door open and collapse on the floor.

* * *


	7. Chapter 6: Meet Hewie

**AN: Time for a reunion with our favorite detective! **

**Why have I chosen to write myself as Wesker in this fiction…? Well. I have always wondered what would happen to Wesker if he got injected with the egg, but his way of thinking is so completely alien from mine I don't think I can get into his head and write a separate fiction about it. Well, of course I could… oh, well. I was going to do one of the ordinary girl-gets-sucked-into-resident-evil… heck, I even have a part of it written… but as Wesker I can write about someone I understand (namely me), at least to a degree, and find theories for what would happen to the bastard.**

* * *

Chapter six: Meet Hewie

* * *

"No, no, no, no, goddammit!" 

I gritted my teeth while I desperately tried to get rid of the water rapidly flowing into the boat. The t-shirt had been sucked out into the lake, and I had barely managed to save the shovel, the backpack and its content. With a few more cusswords and a sigh, I had to realize the battle was lost. The boat sunk into the pitch-black water with a bubbly adieu. I stood up, and looked at my hands. To my surprise, the wounds were almost completely gone. I stared large-eyed down my body and poked hesitantly at a bulging chest muscle.

_Wow, Wesker... you're forty-four years of age, you're pumped up and you have fewer wrinkles than _I _do. What's your secret?_

I forced myself to look away and up at the house Leon had fainted in. He wasn't going to wake up in a few hours. How boring. One thought that kept bothering me was why I hadn't coughed up blood yet. It would be wonderful if Wesker's body had gotten rid of the egg, but somehow I found that hard to believe.

_If the egg hatches… what will happen to… to the virus? To me?_

A faint cough attracted my attention. I looked around, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw him. Platinum blonde hair, expensive suit… and what appeared to be a bandage on his chin. He was walking around in circles, pouting, glancing down at his watch, pouting some more.

"BURKE!" I shouted with my fists clenched, and walked in an angry gait towards him. He jumped and looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face. He eyed me up and down, and tilted his head curiously.

"Do I know you?" he asked as I approached him. 

"The hell you do!"

He waved off this strange retort, and continued.

"I'm waiting for a girl."

"A girl, eh?" I spat at him. He blinked in confusion. "Let me guess: about 5'6"? Brown, curly hair? Pale? Glasses?"

"Looks like she has the wardrobe of Ugly Betty?" he asked eagerly.

"Possibly," I muttered through gritted teeth.

"You have seen her?"

"I AM her, you _idiot!"_

His eyebrows disappeared under his bangs. He opened and closed his mouth, eyed me some more, before he lifted his index finger insecurely.

"Huh? You are…?"

"What do you mean, "Huh"? What do you mean, _"you are"?_ You mean," I swung my arms out in frustration, "you mean you didn't _intend_ for me to get like this?"

More scrutinizing. 

"Uh… of _course_ I did," he said hesitantly after a while. "I'll be back in a moment."

"No, wait…!"

But he was already gone. I looked around me.

_Where did he go?_

Great. Just great. I sighed and folded my arms. 

_Now what?_

I looked up at the grey sky, and started singing;

"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer…"

* * *

"…Take one down, pass it around, forty-three bottles of beer on the wa -"

I jumped when Burke suddenly popped up in front of me. He adjusted his tie a little before taking a step towards me.

"Well, about your…" he hesitated, trying to find a fitting way of continuing. "… physical appearance… it appears there was a mistake made by our techie."

I blinked and frowned.

"Your what now?"

"Our techie. The guy who sent you to this specific program. We told him that you should be able to feel pain while being here, but not be able to die. As a rookie he couldn't find the proper solution, so he simply digitally transported the neural and chemical patterns in your brain to an exact replica of this abomin… game's main villain, seeing as it's difficult to get rid of him."

"But he can die. Which means _I_ can die!"

"Well, yes. But don't look so upset. Everyone can make mistakes. He is new -"

"Cut the crap already!" I yelled furiously and pointed a quivering finger at him. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Not just you, sweetie. Others too. But we eventually grew bored with swallowing people through TV-screens and it allowed us only a minimal, if any, contact with the subject. My secretary came up with a brilliant idea; we should aim for the hard core. Those who are nerd enough to actually write a 'fanfiction'. So we thought we ought to post a little Trojan there. But no one fell for it."

He took a deep, dramatic breath before continuing. 

"It was there for several weeks. We were going to remove it… and that's where _you_ come in, sweetie. I almost choked on my coffee when I saw someone click on the Trojan! You have no idea how happy you made me. I'll get a promotion if the program is a success."

"And what does it take to make that… program or whatever, a 'success?'," I asked him angrily, dreading the answer.

"Make sure you come through this alive and never touch a videogame again," he answered, with a smirk on his lips. "And possibly ruin this dimension in the process."

"So you're definitely going to get me out of this? And make me return to my old body?"

"Precisely," he said. He eyed me some more, before adding; "Are you really sure you want to return to your old body? I mean, this body is -"

"Yes!"

"But what if -"

"No!"

"Not even if -"

"NO!"

"Fine," Burke muttered, sounding disappointed.

"Have you ever had any accidents with this, or something? You're sure that I'm going to get home?"

He scratched the back of his head before answering.

"Well… we lost one kid in Silent Hill…"

"WHAT!"

"Don't worry, sweetie, we're professionals! But we have our mistakes too, we realize now that we have taken a lot of boys and few girls by this method, so next month we'll start project "Shopping-hell.""

He snickered. "Those girls will never nag their parents for another thousand-dollar cell-phone again."

"Listen, I don't know what the hell you are talking about, but I want you – no, I demand you to send me home right now! What happened to your face?"

He tapped his finger against his bandaged chin a little before raising an eyebrow.

"My chin was too weak. My guy made it more prominent. Anyways, you're not going home until the story is finished. End of discussion."

With that he vanished, leaving me with many questions and few answers. I sighed and looked at the house containing Leon again. I walked over to it, and stared at Leon's lifeless figure. It didn't feel quite right of me to just leave him like that when he had done so much for me. 

_Maybe I should carry him to the bed? Am I strong enough to do that?_

I bent down over him, and lifted him up with surprising ease. It felt like he weighed nothing. I placed him on the bed and folded his arms to make sure as little of his skin touched the dirty, blood-stained sheets as possible. I sat down next to the bed and leaned my back against it.

_It's going to be a while before he wakes up… what am I going to do in the meantime?_

"Nine-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, nine-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine bottles of beer…"

* * *

You wake up with a twitch. Droplets of sweat have appeared on your forehead. You wipe it away, sit up and look down at your arms. A great wave of relief engulfs you when you see that the black fluid flowing through your blood vessels, making them sickly prominent, was just a hallucination. A nightmare.

_Or was it?_

"…. Bottles of beer… you take one down…. pass it around…"

"Albert!"

He looks up at you and smiles.

"Hi."

"Where's your shirt?"

He makes a grimace, and starts fidgeting with the laces on his shoes.

"The lake has it now…"

"What about the boat?"

"Underwater."

"Underwater?"

"The t-shirt plugged the whole in it. What was I supposed to do, plug it with my pants?"

You curse and get off the bed. The radio starts beeping. You don't want to tell Hunnigan that the only transportation device you know of has been destroyed. But you don't have any choice. Reluctantly, you answer the call.

"Leon, it's been six hours since our last transmission. I was starting to get worried."

"Don't you mean lonely? Anyway, I started to feel dizzy. Then I guess I must have lost consciousness."

"Lost consciousness? Maybe that has some connection to what the village chief was talking about?"

"Can't say. But I'm all right now. I'm gonna continue my mission."

You hang up on her. You had conveniently left out the part with the boat, but there was no reason to upset her. After all, there might still be a way to the church from here. You pray to God there is a way. Albert is snatching some ammo boxes off a wooden shelf and walks towards the door. He sends you an ambiguous glance before he walks out. 

"Did you meet that detective guy?" you ask when you have reached him. He grabs a pebble on the ground, and throws it as far away as he can manage.

"Yep."

"What did he say?"

Albert picks up another small rock, but this time he doesn't throw it. "He said… uh… he said… I'm pretty much screwed until you and Ashley have gotten yourself out of this place." He hesitates for a moment, before bitterly adding: "Self-righteous jerk!"

You nod. "I see. We don't have time to lose, then."

You walk past him, while sending some worried glances down at your arms. You can still feel the tickling from that black fluid.

* * *

"Albert! _Come on!"_

You have already pulled the lever that opens the waterfall, taken care of the villagers trying to assault you, gotten your hands on an object that looks like it'll fit into the church door, reported it to Hunnigan – and Albert _still_ hasn't made it down the cliff yet. He has a firm grip on the rope tied to the wooden construction made by a carpenter who obviously was too lazy to build a ladder.

"Oh, dear God, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die…"

"We don't have all day!"

"… build an elevator, but _no_…"

"We don't have time for this! Drop yourself down, I'm going to catch you!"

"Hell no!"

"For crying out loud, Albert…!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming, sheesh!"

"Don't you trust me?"

"I don't trust you to catch me when I'm weighing eighty-four kilos and dropping myself at this height! Where's your common sense?"

"Where's your spine?"

"That was low, Leon!"

"Argh! You! You know what? I'll wait in the boat! If you're not down within five minutes, I'll leave you!"

You turn on your heels, clenching your teeth in anger. How you are supposed to bring both him and Ashley to safety, is beyond you. You're not actually going to ditch him, you're too kind to do that, but you sure as hell want to. The wooden box in the water creaks dangerously as you jump on it to get to the other side of the intense flow. You feel a slight trace of guilt for treating him that way, but you're really desperate to get out of here and save Ashley. Albert is nearly at the bottom, and with a groan he lets himself fall down. He sighs in relief and he smiles insecurely at you when you meet his eyes. Or at least think you do, fortunately you can't see them. You smile back and wave him to your side. 

"Are you okay?" you ask him as he approaches you. He nods in response and shudder a little from the cold wind.

"Sorry for yelling at you."

"That's okay. I know I can be annoying."

"Are you scared of heights?"

He looks thoughtful for a second. "It's not so much the height thing as it is falling down to my death thing."

"It takes more than that to stop you, Albie. Come on, let's move on."

You walk into the tunnel. As you reach the room lit by candles, Albert sighs in utter delight.

"Wow, beautiful…"

You smirk. What's up with him and aesthetics? 

The bats in the cave beyond squeal and fly around, some of them annoyingly close to you. You just ignore them and jump down into the boat. This one has harpoons too. Albert jumps down in front of you and gives you a thumbs-up as you get the engine running.

* * *

I took a deep breath behind Leon's back as we were closing in on the area where El Gigante was waiting patiently for us. I really hated that thing. I just hoped Leon had saved that dog in the beginning of the game. I remembered my first playthrough… where I shot it. Leon was dangerously close to the area. I reached out for his shoulder, and he turned to me with a surprised expression on his face.

"Uh… Leon…" I stuttered, not sure how I was going to continue. He cocked his head curiously.

"Yeah?"

"This is hard for me to say… but if anything happens… I want you to know that I… uh… I _like_ you, Leon. A lot. And I'll try to be more useful from now on."

He smiled in astonishment and raised an eyebrow.

"It's cool, Albert, don't worry. Nothing's going to happen, we are going to make it out of here."

He turned away from me and continued walking further in. I didn't move from the spot. Suddenly, a door shut us away from our exit, and the gate containing the hideous giant slowly opened. Leon frowned and clutched his pistol tightly as Ganados rushed out, yanking the thick ropes binding the creature. I picked up the TMP Leon bought from the merchant just before we arrived here.

_Not even I can miss something that big… oh, dear God!_

El Gigante didn't very much appreciate being dragged here and there by the infested villagers. It roared in fury and swung its huge, massive arms around, sending screaming Ganados chrushing into the mountain wall. The beast lifted up its knee to step on some unfortunate under him. I looked away, and winced as I heard more terrified screams and a sickening, crushing sound. Another roar made me look at it again. It was finished with the Ganados, and started walking towards us, each step causing the ground under us to tremble. Leon started shooting at it with gritted teeth, and stepped away from it at the same time. I aimed for it and fired. The tapping recoil of the first ten bullets almost sent the TMP flying out of my hands, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. El Gigante acted like it didn't feel the bullets, and hesitated for a moment looking back and forth between Leon and me. Then it turned slowly away from Leon – and towards me! My eyes widened.

_Fuck._

I turned on my heel and darted as fast away from it as possible. I heard Leon fire a few more rounds with the shotgun and then a growl from the beast, before another small earthquake almost made me lose balance. Leon was on top of El Gigante, slashing the parasite rapidly until the creature rose again with an angry yell. It lost interest in me and turned towards him. I ran towards it and fired some more bullets into the monster, before the TMP protested and clicked. Leon was out of ammo too, and gave me a desperate look. 

_Crap! I have the ammo!_

A howl pierced the air, attracting both my and Leon's attention. A white dog with a blood-soaked leg barked on top of a cliff, before it jumped down and growled at El Gigante. The monster turned towards it and tried to kick it while I stormed towards Leon with shotgun rounds ready in my hands. I barely reached him before I heard an unsettling, splintering sound behind me. El Gigante was wielding a large, dead tree in his colossal hands like it was a baseball bat.

"We are the balls, Leon!" I hollered in terror, getting a quizzical "What?" in return. The monster walked towards us with, what I could have sworn was, an evilly gleeful look on its face.

"Get down!" Leon yelled, and I threw myself to the ground. A split second later, I heard a swooshing sound over me and the shacks being splintered to pieces. I was about to stand up, when cold, rock-hard fingers tightened around my body and lifted me into the air.

"LEON, HEEEELP!" I screeched when I looked it in its dull, grey, empty eyes. My vision blurred of pain, and specks of color invaded it when the creature tightened its grip on me. A gunshot later, it dropped me to the ground with a painful groan. Leon hauled me to a stand, and shook me lightly to rid me of my dizziness. Then a stunningly brilliant idea shot down in my head. I reached for a grenade in my backpack, and shoved into his gloved hand.

"Leon, the next time you slash that parasite, thrust this into the back of the bastard when the parasite retracts!" 

He nodded. The El Gigante was being distracted by the dog again; Leon seized the opportunity to attack. It roared and fell to its knees. Leon rushed towards it, up its back and started cutting frantically with the grenade ready. He only had a split second to pull out the splint out with his teeth and force it in, but he barely managed it and jumped off. Wow. He really was an action hero.

There was a moment of silence. And then –

BOOM!

Dark blood and yellow Plaga gunk exploded out of El Gigantes back. With a roar of agony and desperate flailing with its arms, it fell with a thunderous sound. It stayed motionless. I fell shivering to me knees, and took a deep breath. I was still alive, with all my limbs intact. The white dog jogged towards me with a wiggling tail. I immediately seized the animal, and dug my face into his fur. Ew. Smelly. But I didn't care. I loved dogs.

"Albert, are you all right?" Leon's voice came, sounding worried.

"Mmmff," I answered, and gave him a thumbs-up sign.

"Well done, Albie!" Leon said cheerfully, and patted my back. I looked up at him with a wide grin.

"Can we keep him, Leon? Can we, can we, can we?"

Leon chuckled. "I don't see why not."

"Yaaay!" I hugged the animal tighter. "I'm going to call you Hewie, like the dog from Haunting Ground."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "What's Haunting Ground?"

"Uhh… it's… uhh… it's a story by… by the brothers Grimm! Yeah! It's about a pretty girl who gets trapped in a castle with people who want to hurt her, and… take her bodyparts… but a white dog saves her."

Leon grinned. "No knight in shining armor?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind you."

"Hmm.. .well, sure, seeing as she's pretty."

"And busty too."

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing…"

* * *


	8. Chapter 7: Saving Ashley

**AN: Thanks for the reviews, AdaLeon and Misty Maxwell! Some of this text is rather half-heartedly written… it's starting to bore me. I think I need a break. I'm adding third person view to Ashley and other characters.**

* * *

Chapter seven: Saving Ashley, sort of

* * *

The blonde, petite girl's fingers were tightly wrapped around her newfound weapon. She was starting to get paranoid, jumping and squealing at every sudden movement and sound. The lamp radiated a faint, yellow light that made shadows from the most innocently shaped objects eerily distorted and twisted. It didn't help that the lamp had been moving back and forth for a long time, even when she had tried to force it still. Suddenly, the doorknob started to revolve very slowly. Ashley got to her feet and lifted the plank, ready to get revenge at her hostage takers. The door opened with a metallic squeak and a sandy-haired man stepped into her view. He was Caucasian and armed… just like the bulky brute who kidnapped her.

"Don't come!" she yelled, trying to sound threatening but failed miserably. She threw the plank at him, which he easily avoided, but it must have hit someone behind him because she heard someone cry out and then rant angrily in a language she didn't understand.

"Hey! Take it easy!" the armed man said, sounding surprised. 

"No! Get away!" she shouted frightened, sitting with her back against a barrel.

"Calm down. Everything's going to be all right. My name is Leon; I was ordered by the President to rescue you."

Her heart skipped a beat in her chest. "What? M-my father?"

Another man walked into the room while rubbing his forehead. He was blonde and muscular, only wearing a pair of sunglasses, a pair of suit pants and a pair of shoes. Her eyes widened.

"Who are you?"

Leon and the unknown man exchanged ambiguous glances. The man hesitated, before answering;

"I, uh… I'm… I'm a private detective! Leon and I sort of clashed at the same mission."

"Oh…" she wrinkled her nose and raised an eyebrow. "Where is your shirt?" 

The man grinned widely. "I'm too sexy for it."

Her eyes moved from the man, to Leon, to the man again with a smile growing on her lips. 

_Leon looks like a male model, and the other is half-naked! I'm the luckiest girl alive!_

Her eyes widened when she saw the pink bag strapped to his bask.

"Hey! That's my backpack! Where did you find it?"

He looked surprised. "Uh… I found it in a house."

"What did you do to my books?"

"I left them there. Don't give me that look, you can afford new ones."

"What about my notebooks?"

"…There's gotta be at least one person in your class you can write them off of."

She sighed. "Oh, all right. What's your name?"

"Just call me Albert."

"Or Albie," Leon threw in, with a curled smile on his lips.

"Shut up, Actionhero!"

Ashley giggled. Leon pulled her to her feet, and led her out of the room. She shuddered as she saw the symbol in the multicolored, round window above them. She had seen that insignia too many times already. They reached a ladder, where Albert climbed down and Leon jumped down. She was still at the top, not knowing what to do. She didn't want them to see up her skirt. Leon cocked his head as he glanced up at her and then he opened his arms, signaling he was going to catch her. She bent down and jumped, falling into his warm, protecting arms. They looked into each other's eyes and she felt her heart beat pacing up, making her cheeks warm and red. Leon smiled to her and let go of her. They continued staring at each other, getting open-mouthed looks from Albert.

"Yo! Let's go!" 

He looked around with his armed folded.

"Hewie, where are you? Boy? Dog?"

He cursed bitterly.

"Do any of you know what 'deceitful mutt' is in Spanish?"

Leon shrugged and pulled Ashley towards the church door. A cold voice from their left stopped them.

"I'll take the girl."

"Who are you?" Leon asked angrily when he spotted the peculiar man in the purple robe. A hood was covering his face and he was clenching an odd-looking staff in his hand. Ashley already knew who he was.

"My name is Osmund Saddler. The master of this fine… religious community."

"What do you want?" Leon asked, stepping protectively in front of Ashley. Albert continued looking around for Hewie, without success.

"To demonstrate to the whole world our astounding power, of course!" Saddler answered, with a smirk. "No longer will the United State think they can police the world forever. So we kidnapped the President's daughter… in order to give her a power… and then send her back."

"No…"

Ashley remembered being strapped to a chair in an operating room of some kind, feeling a sharp sting to her neck and a painful tingling sensation…

"Leon… I think they shot something in my neck!"

"What did you do to her?" Leon hissed, taking a threatening step towards Saddler.

"We just planted her a little… gift. Oh, there's going to be one hell of a party when she returns home to her loving father! Ahahaha! But, before that I thought I might bargain with the President for some donations! Believe it or not, it takes quite a lot of money to keep this church up and running."

"Faith and money will lead you nowhere, Saddler," Leon said cockily. Ashley crept closer to the older man.

"Oh, I believe I forgot to tell you that we gave you the same gift."

"When I was unconscious…" 

"Oh, I truly hope you like our small, but special contributions. When the eggs hatch, you'll become my puppets. Involuntarily, you'll do as I say. I'll have total control over your minds. Don't you think this is a revolutionary way to… propagate one's faith?"

For the first time in the conversation, Albert joined in.

"Excuse me, but it can't really be called a faith unless people actually believe in it and if you have to inject them with a mind-controlling parasite to make them believe, wow, I'm sorry to say that's gotta be one pretty fucked up relig-"

"Quiet!" Saddler demanded, sounding angry. "I hope you enjoy your smart-mouthing before you submit yourself to the power of the Illuminados."

"Ah, yes. The power," Albert continued, with a thoughtful expression. "I don't mean to sound impolite, but… uh… this power of yours… what does it… what does it do? I mean, does it do anything? As far as I have seen, the only special thing about the villagers is that they can take a few more caps to their heads without dying, but exchanging that with your freedom seems a little… unreasonable."

"You'll see soon enough," Saddler spat and then smiled. Robed monks with crossbows entered the room and aimed at the trio. Ashley stared petrified at them, before Leon grabbed her by her hand and stormed towards a window in the church wall. The glass shattered into pieces, scratching her bare legs and she landed painfully on the ground.

"Are you all right?" Leon asked with worry in his voice.

"Leon, what's gonna happen to us?"

"Don't worry. We got into this mess; we can get out of it."

"Hewie! There you are!"

The white dog wriggled eagerly with his tail when Albert hugged him. Ashley let out a shriek when she saw the arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Albert looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Albie! Your shoulder! Wait, don't touch it, I'll remove it."

* * *

_Great. Just wonderful. Leon is the firepower, Ashley is the medical expertise, and what do _I_ do? Oh, yes. I carry bags._

Ashley had just removed the arrow and was now rubbing herbs into my wound. The thing that scared me is that I hardly had felt the arrow hit me, nor had I felt anything but a slight tickle when Ashley removed it. A sudden, metallic taste in my mouth alerted me. I stuck my finger in and felt my body go numb when I saw blood on it. My bl… Wesker's blood. So the egg has hatched. But why didn't I cough?

"You too?" the blonde girl asked, sounding terrified. I barely gave her a nod, before jerking out the shovel strapped to my backpack and started bashing away at the unfortunate barrels in the room. Leon broke the boxes, leaving us with a little more ammo and pesetas. I clutched the shovel tightly when Leon opened the door, and walked out towards the cemetery with his pistol raised. We could hardly see anything except the torches swaying in the darkness. Ashley pointed at a wagon containing barrels with explosives and shouted out at Leon. A moment later, there was a gunshot, a blast and screams from Ganados. Rain was pouring down, bouncing off my skin, but I didn't feel it. I followed Leon with my weapon ready, swinging it at all the enemies attempting to attack me and Hewie. Wesker's physical strength never ceased to amaze me. Hewie growled and jumped at the throat of a female Ganado going after Ashley. I praised him warmly and patted him on the head when he came up to me. He barked excitedly and went after another Ganado.

"I think we got them all," Leon exclaimed after a while. We headed for the exit, with Hewie jovially jogging behind us.

* * *

You sigh in annoyance as you enter the village and get a glimpse of the large group of Ganados blocking the path to the farm area. Nobody said life was easy, but _come on._ You order Ashley behind you, and Albert stays behind her to give her double protection. You reload your newly upgraded TMP and take a deep breath. Right. It's time to rumble.

"Allí está!" a villager spits in disgust and directs a dirty index finger at you. You answer by firing at that damned hand, causing him to scream before your bullets hits his head and he drops motionless to the ground.

_Pointing is rude._

The other villagers hollers in anger and storms towards you, stepping indifferently on their dead ally as they are closing in on you.

"Detrás de tí, imbécil!" a voice yells behind you, a second later you hear a metallic thump and a body falling to the floor. Hewie barks in fury and attacks someone you can't see. Ashley raises her fist in triumph as you shoot down one of the villagers storming at you. He falls, causing another to trip and fall over him. Your eyes widen when you realize they're coming too many, too fast. Instantly, you reach for a grenade and throw it at them. Flames engulf your opponents who are now twisting and screaming in agony. Ashley sighs in relief. 

"Good boy, Hewie," Albert whispers affectionately behind you. You continue up the path to the gate. Just as you place your hand at the cold, rusty metal, you feel someone grab your lower arm and squeeze gently. Ashley smiles weakly at you, with red cheeks and shivering from the cold. You tilt your head slightly, reach out your gloved hand and start playing with a wet, blonde lock of her hair. Her blush deepens. Suddenly your hand is jerked away; your head spins around in surprise and meets the icy glare behind Albert's sunglasses. He lets go of your hand, force his way between you and flings the gate open. You raise an eyebrow and follow him. Was that jealousy?

"Te voy a matar!"

Well. Guess that's the least of your problems now.

"Ashley, hide!"

You clutch your TMP tightly as five villagers are walking towards you, pitchforks and torches in hand. Their angry, guttural growls are really grating at your nerves. Suddenly, one of their heads swells up and explodes, sending fragments of blood, brain-tissue and an unknown, yellowish substance at your shoes. Nasty. Hewie flies past you in a flash of white and jumps up on the chest of the woman. His jaw clamps around the tentacle that starts growing out of her throat. Suddenly you hear a squeal behind you.

_Ashley!_

Ashley is hitting the back of her kidnapper frantically, yelling for you to help her. Albert looks bewildered for a moment before he swings the shovel at the villager's stomach. He merely grunts before attempting to flee. Albert follows him, throws the shovel away and grabs the legs of the man. You laugh as Albert lifts him in the air, still holding on to Ashley; that's got to be the damned funniest thing you have ever seen.

"Behind you!" Albert yells. You pull out your knife and swirl around.

* * *

"Oh, crap!"

My arms were tightly wrapped around the Ganado, who did not appreciate being lifted. He growled in Spanish and kicked me and tried to twist himself out of my grasp. His right hand was clamped around my shoulder to support himself while he kicked and I somehow suspected him to aim for my groin. He wasn't the only one who struggled.

"Jesus Christ, Ashley!"

"Sorry!" she whimpered, and continued kicking.

"Stop it, already!"

"Te voy a matar!"

"Shut up, you! Knock it off, Ashley, before you give me a concussion!" 

The tapping sound of Leon's TMP ceased, only to be replaced with more laughter.

"I'm glad you're having fun, Leon, now help me!" I hollered angrily barely avoiding getting Ashley's boot in my ear. There was a loud crack from a 9 mm. and the Ganado released Ashley with a groan. I carried the angry villager away from her, before I dropped and stepped aside. Hewie rushed to my aid, forcing me to look away as his jaw clenched around his throat. I heard a gruesome scream ending in a sickening gurgling sound. Hewie came up to me with a wiggling tail and blood dripping from his mouth.

"Good boy, Hewie," I mumbled in awe, wondering if he was going to end up a man killer if he got out of here. I went to pick up the shovel. Leon hauled Ashley to her feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked her softly, with his gloved hand resting on her elbow. I looked at them in disbelief.

_Leon never flirted with her in the game! What on earth in going on?_

"Let's go," I barked at them, and headed for the farm house. I climbed up the ladders and out of the window to the walkway, with Leon and Ashley behind be. I jumped down into the small area containing lots of bear traps, and I suddenly realized Hewie wasn't going to be able to follow us. Just as I began to feel despair, Hewie squeezed himself through an opening in the fence. 

"I can lift you up, Ashley, and you can lock up the door from the other side?" Leon asked, after having carefully led her around the bear traps.

"Okay…"

"I'll lift you," I quickly threw in, "Leon is a pervert."

She giggled insecurely, while Leon just stared coldly at me. I raised an eyebrow and knelt down by the gate. I waited for about fifteen seconds, before starting to lose my patience. 

_What is the hold-up?_

"Albie?" Ashley's voice whispered above me. "Aren't you going to lift me up soon?"

I looked to my left and spotted her brown boot on my shoulder. Embarrassed, I rose to my feet at such speed Ashley almost lost balance and fell off. I heard groans above me while I rested my cheek against the gate. Leon raised an eyebrow.

"She's gone now, Albert," he said stiffly, right before I heard a metallic click from the door.

"I've opened it, Leon…"

* * *

"Come back anytime," the merchant finished and closed his coat. Ashley was wet and shivering from the icy rain. Leon ran his finger along the barrel of his newly upgraded shotgun with a boyish smirk on his face.

"Aren't you cold?" Ashley asked upon noticing how unaffected Albert appeared to be. He turned his head towards her, slightly tilted.

"It's freezing!"

"Is it?" he replied quietly and stretched his hand out to catch some raindrops. They continued over the wooden bridge, and went to a halt when Leon's phone started beeping. Ashley focused her attention on the raging river under them. It looked like it could swallow them up and tear them apart with its powerful current. If she fell…

"Perfect," Leon grumbled as he shoved the phone back in his pocket. 

"What is it?" Ashley asked, with her gaze down the river.

"Our chopper has been shot down."

Ashley's jaw dropped. Leon grabbed her wrist and ran to the other side of the bridge. A sudden commotion behind them made Ashley spin around and squeal. A horde of villagers with torches and weapons clutched in their hands were storming towards them. They were too many!

"What are we gonna do, Leon?" she yelped, reaching for his warm hand.

"I hate to say it, but we're sandwiched alright! Quick, in that cabin!"

The trio rushed towards the cabin, Leon swiftly shutting the door behind Hewie. A sudden move behind him attracted his attention.

"Leon!"

A plank was thrown in his direction and he caught it with ease. A man with long, dark hair stepped towards them with a smirk.

"Small world, eh?" he greeted as Leon jammed the door shut with the plank. His eyes fixed on Ashley's chest. "So, I see that the President's equipped his daughter with ballistics too!"

Ashley's anger immediately flared up.

"How rude! And I don't believe there's any relevance between my figure and my standings! Who are you?"

The bad-mannered, young man looked amused. "Whoho, well excuse _me_, your Highness! Perhaps the young lady might want to introduce herself first, before asking someone his name?"

"Her name is Ashley Graham, the President's daughter?"

He turned towards Leon with a worried expression. "Is she... you know…"

"Don't worry, she's cool," Leon answered. The man shrugged.

"Eh, never mind. There's supposed to be some sort of obvious symptom before you turn into one of them anyway."

Ashley's heart skipped a beat as she glanced out the window. "Look!"

The horde was closing in on the cabin, with hunger in their orange eyes.

"Ashley, upstairs!" Leon commanded. The man pulled out his Red9 and started playing with it.

"So, Albie, you decided to come to my party too?" he smirked. Albert snorted.

"Your definition of party sucks, Luis." 

Luis chuckled, and peeked out of the window. He raised his gun with a grin.

"It's game time."

* * *


	9. Chapter 8: Two paths

**AN: All right… so you've gotten this far without getting tired. It would be nice if you took the time to leave a review.**

**Anyways… here's chapter eight. Finally! This one took me a while!**

* * *

Chapter eight: Two paths

* * *

The shovel hit the Ganado's cheek, making his head turn swiftly, too swiftly. An appalling cracking sound from his neck made me shudder. Stealing lives, no matter how wretched, was something I, in my mind, would never, ever allow myself to become accustomed to. Another parasite-infected man charged at me, with hatred glowing in his eyes and an iron grip around his hatchet. I clenched my fist and struck at his chin, causing him bite his tongue and lose balance.

_If my kickboxing-coach had seen that, she would have been proud. Or maybe not – 'no battling outside the ring', yaddah, yaddah. I don't care. Shit, here he comes again!_

He ranted furiously, his words obscured through the blood gushing from his mouth. He staggered to his feet and ran towards me. I covered my face with my arms and braced myself for the impact. A gunshot and a soft thud made me lower my arms, with a puzzled facial expression. Luis grinned at me and swirled his gun in a playful manner.

"Not even a 'thank you' for saving your ass, amigo?" he smirked. I raised an eyebrow and opened my mouth to answer him, but a sudden force from behind blocked out all of my air and lifted me several inches above the ground. I gagged and flailed my legs desperately at the mysterious force. Hewie barked in anger and a split second later I heard a tearing sound and a scream right next to my ear. The force let me go, and I jumped in surprise when I saw it was just an ordinary Ganado. I didn't feel pain from the assault, nor my hand as I rubbed it against my throat. Leon let out a cry when he was almost impaled by a pitchfork. He put his 9 mm. away and pulled out his shotgun instead. I cursed under my breath. What a brilliant idea to run in here, where we were cornered and had nowhere to run.

"Did you send them those invitations? I told you, no more than fifty people!"

I cursed louder. I had laughed at that line when I first heard Luis utter it, but in a situation that could cost us our lives it was far from appropriate. I was suddenly pushed forwards, and turned around to face a Ganado with a blood-dripping hatchet. I frowned.

_Is that blood mine?_

Four more Ganados popped up in front of me, grinning wildly. My eyes widened and I involuntarily stepped back.

"Leon, help!"

"They've got us cornered!" Leon growled through gritted teeth and blasted a gang of crazed villagers trying to get into the house. "We've got to run upstairs!"

I did not question his order, and fled up to the second floor with my hands clenched around the shovel. Gunshots behind me made me jump. For a short moment I wondered where Ashley was hiding, but I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity as I saw the sturdy-looking armoire in the room. Leon, Luis and Hewie rushed into the room and immediately started pushing the ladders off the windows. I backed away, pressing myself into a corner of the room and squeezing my eyes shut.

_God, let this be over, let it be over, I can't handle this anymore, please save me, please…_

Several, painfully loud cracks echoed through the room and some painful grunts from Leon. A grotesque, splattering sound made me wince. I tightened my hands around the wooden pole of my shovel, making my knuckles whiten.

_Why can't they just leave?_

A sudden jerk startled me and forced me to open my eyes again. A Ganado with a tentacle wiggling out of her neck had slashed a deep cut into my chest. I stared at her and looked down at my wound in disbelief before I looked back at her again. The tentacle prepared another attack, before a shotgun blast killed it off. The headless woman fell to the floor, with a slight twitch in her right arm. Leon frowned at me while reloading his shotgun. My vision turned blurry and I just knew my eyes were tearing up.

_Damn me and my sensitivity! _

Suddenly, all the remaining Ganados went to a halt. They muttered something under their breaths and started marching down the stairs. Leon and Luis looked at each other, eyebrows raised, before they hesitantly walked down after them.

"Looks like they're backing off," Leon said gruffly, although with a hint of relief.

"So… what do we do now?" Luis asked and placed his Red9 back in its holster.

Leon looked away. "The bridge we crossed to get here is out. So I guess we have no choice but to keep moving."

Ashley came up behind me. "Are we safe now?" she whispered. I looked at her and nodded. She looked down at my chest and her eyes widened in shock. She opened her mouth to say something, but luckily Luis cut her off.

"I forgot something… you guys go on ahead."

"Luis!" Leon called after him, but he was already gone. Hewie pushed Leon's hand with his nose, his jaw clutched around something. Leon tilted his head in curiosity and tried to take the object, but then Hewie decided to play.

"Hewie, gimme!" Leon ordered, not very convincingly. Hewie continued to try jerking it out of his hands, with a playful glint in his brown eyes. Leon finally managed to snatch it and scrutinized it with a raised brow.

"Here," he said and handed the soaking wet, scruffy-looking ammo box to me, "you better put it in the backpack along with the other stuff…"

* * *

Ashley followed Leon out of the cabin, feeling cold and miserable, dreaming of a warm bath with her favorite music playing in the background. But at least she was with Leon… with him, everything would work out. She hoped. She frowned a little upon seeing two gates and what appeared to be a lever in between. They rushed to a shack nearby, greeted by the merchant who presented some strange weapons to Albert.

"My shovel is my friend," he replied quickly, and turned his attention towards Leon who was reading a note, with an increasingly deepening furrow between his eyebrows.

"What's the matter?" Ashley asked, getting worried about his reaction.

"The note says that we are going to get assaulted no matter which path we choose," Leon answered and his eyes went dark. "There will be an army of… 'Ganados' one place and what they call 'El Gigante' in another. But it doesn't say which path contains what."

Albert whispered something in the merchant's ear and slipped a few pesetas in his hand. The merchant shrugged and said: "The El Gigante is to the right, the Ganados are to the left."

Leon raised his brows. "How do you know?"

"Uh… I've been checkin' the area."

"How'd you get here so fast?"

The merchant chuckled. "Can't be tellin' ya all of ma secrets, can I?"

Leon sighed and turned towards Ashley and Albert. "That's great. But which one do we choose?"

"I suggest we go right," Albert quickly threw in and snatched the note from Leon. "One big enemy is better than hundreds of human enemies, attacking us from every angle."

Leon sighed again. "Maybe…"

"Do you understand Spanish?" Albert exclaimed in amazement as he was scrutinizing the note. Leon nodded and headed for the lever. He scratched his head in puzzlement before he shrugged and pulled the lever to the right. The gate to the path opened with a rumbling noise. Ashley grabbed Leon's hand and squeezed gently. She did not like the thought of this 'El Gigante'. She almost gasped in surprise when Leon squeezed back.

"Let's go," Albert huffed and hurried towards the gate, with Hewie in his arms.

_No sign of that thing,_ Ashley thought as she saw the unsettling, quiet area they stepped into. Albert started messing about in _her_ backpack and then handed a sniper rifle to Leon.

"That door on the other side is chained shut," he explained, "it'll be better if we break it now so that we won't have to deal with it later…"

Leon raised a brow at him and then looked through the scope. "You can see it all the way from here?"

"Yeah," Albert said and shrugged, "Wesker's superpowers, you know."

Ashley blinked. "Superpowers…?"

"Uh, yeah, uhm," Albert stuttered, with a desperate glance at Leon. "My vision is so good, my… my optician said it's got to be a superpower. Yeah."

"Who is Wesker?"

"Wesker is… uh… he is… my… father! Yeah!"

Ashley wrinkled her nose. She didn't buy it. She raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to reply, but a loud crack from Leon's sniper rifle startled her and made her close her mouth again. Leon frowned upon noticing a large boulder on the cliff by the pathway.

"I don't like it," Leon muttered.

"Don't worry," Albert said quickly, "the boulder is being held in place by a… small… twig…"

Leon sighed deeply and readied his gun before walking cautiously into the area. Ashley fiddled nervously with the bracelet on her wrist as she followed him, while Albert swung the backpack over his shoulder and lifted up a rather reluctant Hewie. Suddenly, a roar pierced the air and the ground shook so violently it knocked Ashley off her feet. Her eyes widened as she saw the enormous, grey creature behind her scowl down at her. She screamed.

"Run!" Leon yelled and pulled her up.

* * *

The first two bullets miss the plank, but the third hits dead on and breaks it. The boulder falls down with a rumbling sound and blocks the path for the furious El Gigante, who roars in frustration and immediately starts banging its fist at the boulder.

"LEEEEEOOON!" Ashley screams terrified behind you. You swiftly turn on your heel and run, run as fast as your legs allow you. Your heart leaps when you see Ashley staring apathetic at you, with her hands raised to her face. You roughly seize her by her wrist and almost yank her off her feet as you keep running further into the pathway, your heart pacing with every step you take. The boulder is brutally crushed, sending a fragment that misses the back of your head by inches. Albert is far in front of you and in panic he throws a grenade at yet another chained shut door, the explosion destroying the lock and blowing off a part of the door. He swiftly vanishes out of sight, making you clench your teeth with Ashley dangling from your hand. You are closing in on a sturdy gate; this has to be the exit. A very colorful string of curses escapes your lips when you realize that this door is locked.

"Albie!" Ashley exclaimed behind you, making you spin around with a bewildered look on your face. There he is, storming to you with a desperate hold around a struggling Hewie. Your eyes fix on a rusty object in his hand, your heart leaps in your chest as it takes form of a key. The El Gigante is too slow to keep up with you, but he is coming to you, the ground trembling with each step.

"Take it, take it, take it!" Albert yells in terror and motions with the key in your direction. You snatch it and insert it in the keyhole. The door is opened with a click.

"Get out, now!" you order, and push Ashley and Albert out of the pathway before hurrying out yourself. You fling the door shut and lock it. The three of you suck in deep breaths, and listen for the sounds of the monster on the other side. When none is heard, Albert breaks the silence.

"Whew, that was close!" he exclaims and releases Hewie. He immediately barks of joy and runs off to sniff on some bushes. You seize Ashley by her wrist and pull her away from the door, frightened that thing might be able to burst it open. The blue torch makes you jump and blink.

_He is here…? How did he…?_

You shake the thought away. The merchant's orange eyes glow eerily in the dark, fixed at you. It freaks you out a little, and your immediate though is not to speak to him at the moment. With Ashley and Albert behind you, you head for the large gate that leads out of this twisted village. You try to open it.

Locked.

_Damn…_

Your eyes narrow as you scrutinize it closer. There is some sort of retinal scanner there, a couple of feet above you.

"Leon, look!"

Ashley was pointing towards the contour of a ski lift in the distant. It doesn't look very inviting, but you don't any other choice. Sucking in a deep breath, you close your hand around Ashley's and run towards it.

The rusty lift hardly looks like it can bear you alone.

"… Leon?" Albert voice mumbles hesitantly behind you. "What if Ashley and I stay here, and you go look for Mend… whatever it is we're looking for."

Your eyebrows rise. "Wait here? What if some of those creatures come back?"

"I don't think anyone will come, Leon. I'll protect Ashley if they do."

"I'm not letting you do it, Albert."

"We are a burden to you. If the worst case scenario is to happen, you're far better off not having to worry about us."

You swallow hard. "… Are you sure you can do this?"

"Yes."

"Are you absolutely positive that you-"

"_Yes_, Leon!"

"All right… I trust you."

"No, you don't. Here, take this," he says and hands you the backpack. "You'll need it. Probably."

You accept it, somewhat reluctantly. The thought of leaving Ashley behind with Albert makes your chest turn numb. A lift is closing in on you and you jump on it with your fingers clutched tightly around the 9 mm. As the lift descends, orange eyes emerge from the darkness. You swiftly aim your gun and shoot.

* * *

"Will he be okay?"

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Her face was drained of all color, and her gaze was fixed at the point where Leon had vanished out of sight. We heard angry yells, gunfire and screams in the distant.

"Of course he will," I reassured her. "Leon is Leon."

Her brown eyes turned towards me, almost pleading. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me; Actionhero can handle anything Saddler throws at us."

"Maybe…"

Ashley looked down. Her shoulders started to tremble, a second later she began to sob. I blinked and stepped away. She lifted her hands to her face and cried uncontrollably. My eyes darted back and forth, as to search for an escape route, before resting on her blonde head. I hesitantly reached my hand out to touch her shoulder.

"Ashley? What's the matter…?"

Suddenly she threw herself at me, flinging her arms around me in a tight embrace and burying her face into my chest. I was taken aback of the assault, and in lack of better ideas I placed my hands on her shoulders.

"Ashley…!"

"I'm sorry!" she whimpered. "I-it's just that I-I'm so scared for h-him!"

I was rendered completely speechless. It became clear to me that I was unable to handle crying people. In a desperate attempt to be useful, I patted her back as gently as possible.

"Ashley… he's only been gone for ten minutes… it's gonna be all right…"

"W-What if he doesn't come back? I'll be all alone!"

"You still got _me!"_

For some reason, that only made her cry more. I made a grimace, something that seemed unusual for Wesker's facial muscles. I managed to pull her away from me, still with my hands on her shoulders.

"Listen, Ashley… why don't you… why don't you sit down for a moment, and I'll… I'll go look for stuff…? How does that sound?"

She sniveled and nodded. I led her to the wall, and walked down the path as she sat down. I had really no clue what I was looking for. I had never seen Ashley so emotional in the game. Almost human. She was scared out of her mind, that was certain, but she didn't cry, at least if I was to look away from Ada's comment by the door in the church. I had to admit I admired that girl for her courage. In a situation like this, you would normally run like you had the devil behind you, scream like a little boy, put your hands in the air and wave them like you care way too much for your own good, maybe stop to take a few breaths and then continue running and screaming some more. If it wasn't for the fact that I must have gotten some of Wesker's Henry-Townshend-ish-oh-my-god-valium-abuser-like calmness I would probably be banging my head against a wall just about now.

"Stranger!"

A gruff voice abruptly pulled me out of my string of thoughts. The merchant waved me eagerly to him. I tilted my head.

_What could he want with me?_

"Look here, stranger," he said when I approached him. "I've made somethin' special for you."

His hand vanished under his coat and appeared again, this time holding on to a Blacktail. I narrowed my eyes as I scrutinized it.

"Is that…?"

"That's right, stranger. Since you're such an awful shot-"

"_Hey!"_

"-I've fetched a Blacktail with a laser built in it. Consider yourself lucky, I've only sold another one so far…"

He handed me the gun. I accepted it somewhat reluctantly.

"You did this for me? Why?"

"Well, that shovel of yours ain't much protection," the merchant answered thoughtfully. "Sooner or later, something really nasty comes along and then you'll need firepower … and I'd rather not lose a customer."

"Gee. Thanks," I muttered. I aimed the Blacktail at the wall of the house nearby. The red dot followed my movements. My eyebrows furrowed. I tried to tighten the ring finger and little finger on my right hand around the gun. No reaction.

"Huh?

I held on to the Blacktail with my left hand, while removing the other one and wiggling the fingers on it. The pinkie and ring finger didn't move at all on their own, they seemed almost like excessive growths on my hand.

_Weird…_

"You gonna try it out, stranger?"

"Yeah…"

I aimed the gun at the wall, braced myself for the recoil and fired. I could see a hole where the red dot had been a split second ago.

"Whoa… how much does it cost?"

My jaw dropped as I heard the answer.

"You want _how much_ for a Blacktail with a laser pen?"

The merchant chuckled.

"Develop skills before you complain about the price, stranger."

"That was mean!"

I angrily shoved the gun back into his hands. I'd have to wait for Leon to come back to be able to buy it. A white flash caught my attention. Hewie was digging rapidly into the ground by the house, with something gold glittering in his jaw.

"Hewie! Whatcha got there?"

He looked up to me, with a sudden hint of mischievousness crossing his playful, brown eyes.

"Hewie… don't even think about it!"

Much too late. Hewie sped behind the house like an oiled up lightning, and I shouted in protest as I ran after him.

"Hewie, no! Bad boy, Hewie! Come on, give me that! … _Hewie!"_

* * *


	10. Chapter 9: Eye for an eye

**AN: I think I'll try to include as many boss fights as possible in my story. Sorry for the long wait; I haven't been very motivated lately.**

**Translation: "Løp" means run.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own RE4, I only own my story, anything associated with the FGIA and of course myself.**

* * *

Chapter nine: Eye for an eye

* * *

The strike sends you flying backwards, crashing painfully into the wall behind you. The impact knocks the air flat out of you and your eyes water as you roughly land on the floor and wheeze for air. The Village Chief swings himself – or rather what's left of him – closer to you, his deep frown changing to a slight smirk.

"I warned you, outsider," he grunts gutturally while pulling himself up and vanishing out of sight. You grit your teeth and force yourself to stand up, while tightening your clammy, shivering fingers around the TMP. The blazing heat from the burning walls makes droplets of sweat trickle from your skin and soak your t-shirt. You swallow in a futile attempt at moistening your dry throat and look around to search for the aggressor. A noise from above alerts you and you swiftly roll yourself forward, just as one of the Chief's tentacles thrust down to the spot you were standing on. You grab an incendiary grenade and fling it with all your might at his face. His roar of anger makes the corners of your mouth involuntarily twitch, his beard catching on fire turns your half-smile into an uncontrollable laughter, earning a sourly glare.

"Quiet!" he demands, while desperately attempting to kill the fire. You force yourself to pull yourself together.

_This isn't the time or place for that._

You point the TMP at him and shoot. Apart from a few grunts, he hardly looks like he even notices the bullets. He angrily shouts some Spanish profanities inn your direction and disappears out of sight again. You eye the platform above you with a frown.

_He won't be able to surprise me up there._

The muscles in your thighs scream for mercy as you rush to the ladder and climb up. The exhaustion of all the running and fighting without food, water or rest up to this point has inevitably taken its toll on you. A moment of overwhelming dizziness makes you sway dangerously at the top of the ladder. A swishing sound from your left alerts you, and you throw yourself to the platform. You swiftly turn your head to see what caused the noise. The Chief grumbles in anger and tries to jerk his tentacle-like hook that is now stuck in the wall to the right of the ladder. Where your head would have been. With one hand clasped around the TMP, you aim it at him and shoot. The recoil forces your aim away from him and you accidentally empty the rest of the clip into the walls. You are about to curse yourself for your stupidity as one of the bullets hits a red barrel on the other side of the platform and sends metal fragments to the Village Chief's neck.

"Aaargh!" he screams, blood gushing from the wound. He tries to yank out the large piece of smoking, red-hot metal sticking out of his back, his face twisted in agony, sending a sudden wave of compassion over you, making your eyes water and your grip around the TMP loosens.

_No, Leon, don't. He doesn't care about you; it's either you or him. Ashley depends on you to save her. Get up and fight!_

Your knees shake as you stand up, you blink when sweat trickles in between your brows and into the corners of your eyes. Chief sends you a furious glare before he manages to pull free his tentacle and swings it at you. The TMP flies out of your hand and hits the floor with a metallic clunk and you are sent into the wall, the back of your head slamming hard into the concrete. You must have blacked out for a moment because you are lying on the platform without remembering having fallen. The splitting pain from your head makes your stomach turn. You force yourself to stagger to your feet and throw yourself down as the Chief makes another attempt at taking you out. He yells in frustration and lifts the tentacle to strike. With gritted teeth, you close your fingers around your last flash grenade and fling it at him. He screams and lifts his hands to his face. You stand up, forcing your focus away from the pain and exhaustion and to him.

_If this doesn't work, nothing will._

You seize the knife and run towards the other end of the platform, staggering at first, but then faster, your heart pacing wildly into your chest, making you nauseous. As your feet hit the edge of the platform, you jump with your arms reached out. You barely have the time to give yourself kudos when you manage to get a good grip round the Chief's neck. He lowers his hands and blink at you, obviously startled. You lift the fist clutching your combat knife and strike at his throat. A revolting gurgling sound is heard the second before blood squirts out and blinds you. The Chief coughs violently and you lift your fist again, with your eyes squeezed shut, stabbing blindly at his body. He tries to throw you off, but the adrenaline rushing through your veins gives you an incredible strength, making you able to hold on. The only thing you sense now is the squishy sound when your knife slides into his flesh, only to the jerked out, again and again, until he clamps a tentacle around you and flings you away. You hit the floor somewhat roughly and blink as you open your eyes to see your surroundings. The Chief makes a last attempt at sucking in a breath before he drops down, landing with a soft thud. Your fingers are still clutched around the handle of your knife, you stare watchfully at his motionless figure for a while before you collect your remaining strength and crawl up to him. A shiny, slimy, white ball is lying next to his head. You pick it up and scrutinize it, the red iris of the Chief's fake eye staring empty at you. You narrow your eyes. The ball duplicates before your eyes, so does your hand. A third image emerges next to the other two, and they glide in and out of each other and grow fainter. Everything turns black, you hear yourself sigh as you collapse on the floor, the flames swallowing up the walls in the room inch by inch, toxic black smoke engulfs you and seeps into your lungs.

* * *

_Unbelievable. I lost to a dog. Unbelievable._

Hewie was now burying his trophy of victory, casting glances at me once in a while as to make sure I was still painfully aware of my defeat. I answered simply by ignoring him, vowing to myself that I was going to get my hands on whatever it was he had found. After having persuaded the Merchant into learning me how to reload and whatnot, I had remembered that Ashley was having a minor nervous breakdown and that it would be ethical of me to provide her with a shoulder to cry on. As I approached her I could see her slim arms firmly wrapped around her legs and she was rocking back and forth and muttering something under her breath while she was staring after Leon. I cleared my throat to make her aware of my presence. No reaction.

"So, ah… have you been sitting here and… staring… the whole time?"

Still no response. I stepped a little closer to her before trying again.

"What's the matter?"

Ashley turned her head towards me, seeming surprised at the question. She looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head and shrugging.

"I don't know…" she muttered and rubbed her neck. "It's just too much. I've never been this scared in my life. Not just for me… for another one…" She looked at me with plea in her eyes, not wanting to say more. I merely nodded in reply and sat down next to her.

"Come on, Ashley," I comforted her, "you mustn't think like that. We will get out of here alive. We will."

"Maybe… I just wish Leon was here."

"He'll come soon, Ashley, I'm sure he will. Although," I added, starting to doubt my own words, "he is taking his sweet time."

Ashley raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What kind of a pep-talk is that?"

I shrugged. "Sorry, that was the best I could manage."

She cocked her head and smiled at me. She started fidgeting with her hair and bit her lower lip before mumbling; "So, ah… you're a private detective, huh? What do you do?"

"Well, I… uh… uhm… it's sort of like being a… a… a professional stalker, you know? People hire you to find other people, or dig up information on people… and that… that requires a lot of… of tailing… you know? Although it's… it's an interesting job. Yeah."

Ashley giggled. I raised my eyebrows.

_Did I say anything funny?_

She moved a little bit closer to me. "So… is there a Mrs. Albert back home?"

I blinked in puzzlement. "Uh… I… n-no. No.

"Well…" she smiled as sweetly as she could while batting her eyelashes. My eyebrows practically disappeared into my hairline and I instinctively pulled away from her. Whoa. "You know… I have a friend who is single and she is really, really pretty and smart and funny and I think you two would fit perfectly together… when we get back, what do you say I give you her number?"

I opened and closed my mouth. I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

_There is no in between with this girl, is there? Either her fear is paralyzing her, or she doesn't respect her fear at all._

"I… I'm flattered, but no thank you."

"Are you sure? I mean, she's -"

"No! Just _no._"

Ashley sighed. "Oh, all right… sorry for pushing you. I needed to take my mind of – Leon!" Her jaw dropped and she pointed towards the ski lift. I narrowed my eyes as I focused on the pale, male figure who was closing in on us with a painful grimace on his face. The guy had blood all over him along with what appeared to be second-degree burns on his left arm and shoulder, where some of his t-shirt had charred off. He was clutching something in his hand, but I was unable to see what it was. Leon stepped off the ski lift and onto firm concrete, his weary eyes brightened up as he saw me and Ashley.

"Leon!" I exclaimed in shock. "You look terrible! What happened to you?"

He limped towards us, grumbling. "When I got off the lift I found a trail that led down to a seemingly abandoned house. There I had a last run-in with the village chief. But I'm okay now."

"You look far from okay, Leon," Ashley said firmly. "Sit down while I help you patch up your wounds."

"I've been trained to do this on myself, you know," Leon protested.

"But you're in pain. And I want to help you…"

Leon sighed. "Okay."

A bark from behind startled me. Hewie was looking at me, slightly impatient, as if waiting for me to tell him how good he was for burying the coins.

_Wait. I can dig 'em out now!_

I scratched him affectionately behind his ears and walked towards the house.

"Where are you going?" Ashley asked quizzically.

"Just gonna get something."

* * *

"Here you go," Ashley said happily and patted Leon's healthy arm.

"Thanks. You're really good with this," Leon said and smiled weakly. His pallid skin was soaked in cold sweat and for a moment she thought she could see a glint of red in his icy blue eyes. She cringed.

_Just your imagination, Ash. Just your imagination..._

Leon glanced down at his wounded arm with a painful expression on his face.

"How bad does it hurt?" Ashley asked, feeling worried.

"Pretty bad," Leon admitted and rose to his feet. "C'mon. Let's get out of this village."

Hewie came up to them, walking an almost grouchy manner. Albert strutted behind him, with a gun in his hand and a victorious grin on his face.

"Where'd you get that?" Leon asked, eyebrows raised.

"From the merchant," he answered and aimed it at Leon's chest. A red dot appeared, glowing ominously on his t-shirt.

"Hewie here is quite a gold digger, aren't you boy?" Albert continued and lowered his gun. "He found thousands and thousands of pesetas and buried them. I even got spare change."

"Why didn't you just take money from the backpack?" Leon said and pulled his shirt where the red dot had been. Albert went completely stiff for a moment. Then he shook his head.

"You always bring me down, don't you, Leon? Anyways, with this Blacktail my hit-ratio just rose from minus thirty percent to ten."

Leon chuckled. "That's great, Albert. Whaddaya say we get the hell out of this place?"

Albert grinned and gave him the thumbs-up sign. "That's the most sensible thing I've heard from you all day."

They walked towards the exit gate. An icy breeze ruffled Ashley's blonde hair and she folded her arms to keep warm. She really regretted her choice of attire, but then again she had no idea she was going to get kidnapped. Her eyes wandered up and down Leon's and Albert's backs and she puckered her eyebrows as her gaze rested on the Blacktail in Albert's hand.

"Albert?"

"Yeah?"

"You're carrying your gun in your left hand. You're right handed."

Albert went to an abrupt halt, causing Ashley to crash into him. He turned towards her with a dazed expression on his face. "I… what makes you think I am?"

"Because of the way you hold on to the shovel and that you use your right hand the most."

He blinked. "Wow. I had no idea you were so observant. Well…" He raised his hand and stared sadly at it. "I can't move the ring finger, the pinkie or even 'the bird'. I… I think something is seriously wrong with me." He sucked in a deep breath before continuing. "You know when I was hit by that arrow in the church? The reason I didn't scream of excruciating pain wasn't because I felt a need to appear 'strong'. It was because I didn't feel any pain. Likewise in the cabin; the Ganados attacked me several times and it hardly even tickled. I don't feel the wind or the rain hit me. I don't feel it when I get touched. Nothing. And now I can't move my fingers…"

"Why didn't you tell us anything?" Leon asked and placed a hand on Albert's shoulder.

"Well… I sorta hoped it would go away… and you have other things to worry about."

"You're my friend. I want you to tell me when there is something wrong with you."

Albert smiled weakly. "Thank you, Actionhero. But I don't think there's anything we can do about it now. Let's get out of here."

Leon nodded. He picked a white, shiny ball out of his pocket and lifted it to the retinal scanner on the gate. After a few moments a metallic click was heard. Leon used his bodyweight to push the heavy door open. Ashley stiffened when she saw the glow of torches in the distant.

"Use the sniper-rifle, Leon," Albert muttered and stepped back. Leon pulled the rifle sticking loosely out of the pink backpack and aimed it in the direction. Ashley held her breath in anticipation and 

strode closer to Leon. His eyebrows were puckered in utter concentration as he stared at his targets through the scope. Ashley sighed.

_There are no guys like that back home… I wonder if he'd like to go on a date with me if we get back to America…_

She jumped as he fired, once, twice, three times. He lowered the rifle a little and took a hesitant step forward. A sudden honk of a car echoed through the chilly air and a white truck appeared in the distant. Ashley's heart skipped a beat. Leon calmly reloaded the rifle, aimed and shot. The truck was unaffected and kept closing in on them. In panic, Albert started shooting too, along with Leon and the truck started swaying and swirled off the path with a shrieking sound. Ashley felt a hand tighten around her wrist, making her cry out of pain and surprise and a split second she was jerked forward, struggling to keep up with Albert.

"Løp! Løp! LØØP!!" he screamed, sounding terrified. Ashley glanced over her shoulder, seeing Leon and Hewie run after them. Her eyes widened when torches glinted behind the gate.

"Allí esta!" a villager shouted as he spotted them, raising a pale index finger in their direction. He ran towards them, followed by villager after villager, flowing in through the open gate. Ashley forced herself to keep her gaze forward. Her jaw dropped as she saw the massive castle stretching towards the sky, the pale concrete glowing ominously in the darkness. Albert made a swift turn, causing Ashley to slide and scrub her thighs. He mercilessly hauled her to her feet and sprinted over the bridge. Hewie ran past them with ease, barking in a high-pitched voice when he reached the other side. Albert let go of Ashley's wrist and hurried to one of the two cranks near the entrance of the castle. He clamped his left hand around the handle and waved Ashley and Leon to him with frantic movements of his arm. Leon rushed to the other one and the two men shared a nod before starting to turn the handles. With a sound of protest, the bridge slowly began to rise. Ashley stiffened and clenched her fist as her eyes fixed and the forest of flaring torches and glowing eyes close in on them. Albert must have seen it too, since he was revolving the handle with increasing speed.

_Clunk._

"Oh, fuck!"

Ashley turned towards him, her heart skipping a beat when she saw him standing with an apathetic look on his face, clutching the handle in his hand. She twitched. The handle. Not attached to the crank.

"DO SOMETHING!" she screamed. He looked despaired. Then suddenly he threw the handle away and seized the chain connecting the crank and the end of the bridge. With a groan he started to pull it, every single muscle in his body flexed as the bridge was rising. Ashley blinked.

_That can't be possible! How strong is this guy?_

"Keep going, Albert!" Leon encouraged, while working the crank on the other side. "You're doing great!"

_Just like the bearded guy with the fake eye. Is he like that…? Is he some sort of a freak too…?_

"Phew!" Leon exclaimed when he heard the angry shouting from the villagers on the other side. "That was close. Are you okay, Ashley?"

She felt heat rushing to her cheeks. "Y-yes, Leon."

"Good." His eyes wandered over the castle and he raised a brow. "I have a bad feeling about this place."

"Hey, guys!" Albert yelled, practically dangling from the chain. "A little help would be much appreciated!"

* * *


	11. Chapter 10: Camp Fire Stories

**AN: Hello, cherries! There will be a lot of talking and not so much action in this one, and you should prepare for oddness from this point now on. And a special treat to my reviewers too; a longer-than-usual and reasonably detailed chapter! Wooo!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any games, TV-series, movies or fanfictions/fanfiction-authors that I may make a reference to from now on and to eternity. So there.**

* * *

Chapter ten: Camp Fire Stories

* * *

"That's way too expensive."

"Hehe, well, that's business to ya, stranger."

"Come on, for a friend's sake?"

"You're not my friend, stranger."

"Oh, come on! Don't be like that! Can't you see we're in dire need here?"

"Stranger…"

I was watching in amusement as Leon tried to bargain with the Merchant, without much luck. Leon was gesturing wildly with his hands as if words weren't enough to explain how serious our situation was, which was something I could agree with. I could feel Ashley's amber eyes burn their way into my neck, but I pretended not to notice it. She couldn't keep on glaring at me for all eternity. I frowned and tried my best to focus on my future plans. If that agent person decided to drop by again, I would have no choice but to threaten him to send me back. It would pain me to have to get violent with anyone, but damn it, that bastard well deserved it. Or at least, that's what I told myself. My teeth grinded against each other as I clenched my fists, span around to face Ashley and yelled;

"WHAT!?"

She jumped at my sudden rage and narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"You have been staring at me for ages! Stop it already!"

Ashley placed her hands on her hips and stretched her body, as if trying to reach my height. Naturally, she failed. "I want to know how you raised that bridge," she demanded.

"What do you mean? That's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

"You think I haven't noticed you?" Ashley said, her voice rising in volume. I glared at her with my arms folded, feeling more and more confused by the second. "Your strength is incredible. Every cut and bruise you've gotten has just conveniently vanished! You're not normal! Whatever it is that you have, it's not natural! You owe me and Leon an explanation, and don't lie, I can smell that miles away."

"I don't owe you a damned thing, Ashley," I snapped back at her while sending a desperate glance in Leon's direction, but thanks to the shades he didn't notice it.

"How am I supposed to trust you?" Ashley shouted and stepped towards me. "Why are you always wearing those stupid sunglasses?"

She reached out to take them off, her eyes widening as I roughly clamped my hand around her wrist and pushed her back, knocking her off balance. "Don't ever touch my sunglasses, Ashley," I grumbled, more threateningly than I had intended. "I have never given you any reason not to trust me."

Ashley got on her feet, brushing dirt off her skirt. "You just did," she said coldly. We stared at each other, the temperature between our eyes dropping several degrees. My heart was pounding painfully against my ribcage, the growing rage blending in with a morbid joy over being able to feel anything physical. Ashley's eyes dug their way into mine, as if trying to peek into the mind behind them. A sudden urge to strike her almost overwhelmed me for a moment.

_Come on! Hit her! Hurt her!_

I stiffened.

_That voice…_

Leon must have registered my aggressive reaction. He stepped in between me and Ashley, staring coldly at me. "Stop fighting," he said quietly after a while and placed a hand on my shoulder. This friendly gesture drained all of my anger away from me, leaving me feeling somnolent and empty. "We need to work together in order to get out of here."

I merely nodded in reply and brushed his hand off. Hewie was marking his territory on every square meter of stonewall in the area, making me shudder. Ew, Hewie, how long have you been keeping that in? He strutted up to me, demanding praise, something he was granted without a second's hesitation. I smiled as I scratched him behind his ear.

"Good boy."

I raised my right hand and stared at it, attempting to wiggle my fingers. My thumb twitched slightly, the other fingers stayed completely motionless. My insides went numb.

_Jesus Christ._

"Are you okay, Albert?"

_No, Leon. I'm not okay. I'm as far away from okay as anyone can be. _"Yes, Leon, I'm fine."

"Good. Let's get out of here."

I met his gaze, surprised at his smile. The kind of smile that made girl's knees shiver and straight men question their heterosexual tendencies. I swiftly returned the smile and looked away; mentally smacking my inner fangirl.

_Don't you dare emerging now!_

_You are always so mean to me! How can you expect me not to drool? You have that hunk strutting around in those tight pants, emphasizing that perfect, rock-hard –_

_Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!_

"A peseta for your thoughts," Leon said, with a slight smirk.

"What? You think I'm that cheap? Oh, no, no, amigo, you don't have enough pesetas in entire Spain to buy my thoughts."

Leon chuckled and walked past me. He pulled out his knife to break the wooden boxes he was heading towards. Too late, I remembered that one of them contained a pissed off snake.

"Leon, watch out for the -"

"Ouch!"

The snake shot out, with its sharp teeth sinking deeply into Leon's arm. Leon cursed loudly, clamped his hand around the snake's head, his fingers digging into the creature's jaw. He slung it roughly into the wall, its lifeless body falling with a soft thud to the ground. Leon held his bleeding arm, showing an impressively colorful vocabulary that would have raised the PG-ratings to Adults Only. Ashley ran up to him with a worried expression on her face. I nudged the motionless snake with my foot, feeling compassion for the tiny being.

_Poor, little thing. You were just scared._

"Are you okay, Leon?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just hope that thing isn't poisonous."

"It isn't." Ashley and Leon stared quizzically at me. I tensed my muscles in defense. Right. Time to lie. "I've seen enough Animal Planet to know it isn't."

Leon chuckled. "Aha. Check that chest over there, would you?"

I shrugged. The chest had beautiful decorations on it, so I decided not to break it. I placed my hand on the lid and jerked. Damn. Rusted shut. I bit my lower lip and tried again. _Damn!_

"Son of a -- !"

My sweet, little pool of patience had been steadily shrinking ever since I met bastard-bishonen-Burke, and now it had finally run dry. With a mighty roar, and a feeling I would need heavy therapy sessions for constantly hearing my voice as male, I wrenched the lid off, fragments of rusted metal flying into the air and twinkling like butt-ugly stars before vanishing into oblivion. My eyes rested on the lid for a moment before I sighed and flung it away.

_Well. So much for not breaking it._

_Shut up, you! Shouldn't you be curled up in your corner, drooling over Leon?_

_Fine, maybe I will! Leon is just SUCH a hottie, y'know… his baby-blue eyes and legs that never end, m-mm! And, let's not forget about Krauser…_

_Oh, no…_

_Oh, yes! Don't be shy, Alma, just admit that he is a well-crafted piece of polygon art. That bulky brute can kidnap me any time! Just the fact that he strips during the game makes me want to write a thank-you e-mail to Capcom._

_Do you have any idea how –_

_And last, but not least; Wesker! Oh, mama, words can't even describe him! I am really disappointed with you, how can you be graced with his body and not take advantage of it?_

_Because that would be wrong – no, WRONG – on more levels than I can count!_

_You wimp. _

_Why, you little - !_

"Albert?"

"What, Ashley?"

"Was there anything interesting in the chest?"

I felt like I was blushing, but somehow I doubted I did. I glanced down into the chest and picked up the 5000 pesetas with a sheepish grin.

"We got mon- eh!"

"Sweet," Leon said with a smile. His ghastly-pale cheeks turned a happy, pink color as an alarming, rumbling sound emerged from the deepest well of his abdomen. Both Ashley and I stared at him with inconspicuous smirks on our lips.

"Leon, I think it's angry," I snickered. Leon's blush deepened. A fainter rumbling was heard next to him and we looked at Ashley, who immediately started giggling.

"They're communicating!"

"Shut up, Albert!" Leon chuckled. With a grimace, he pressed his hands against his stomach.

"We need food," Ashley complained.

Leon frowned. "How? I doubt the merchant has any."

"I think I've got an idea…"

They both stared quizzically at me. I cleared my dry throat, pondering their reaction to my suggestion. It was the unfortunate, little snake Leon killed that gave me the idea, which was a wonderful one in my opinion, although I could already imagine their pretty faces twisting in revulsion.

"Uh… I read a book once about an American Soldier in the cold war. He was sent into the jungles in the Soviet Union to prevent a corrupt Colonel in getting a nuclear warhead. When he was on his mission, he didn't get any food so he had to hunt down and kill his food, such as frogs, fish… snakes…"

I had to give myself a mental pat on the back for managing to imagine their facial expressions so accurately. Ashley's in particular.

"You mean… we should hunt…?" Leon started, not quite being able to finish the sentence.

"No way!" Ashley exclaimed in shock, while frantically shaking her head. "There is no way in he… in _heck_ I'm going to eat snakes!"

I calmly placed my hands on my hips and put on my best know-it-all face. "You're both hungry. You have no idea how long you're going to go without food, and under these circumstances you are using a hell of a lot of energy just to keep yourselves alive. I say you really don't have much of a choice."

Leon looked thoughtful for a moment. "We would need to barbeque them."

Ashley looked utterly taken aback. "What!? You've got to be kidding!"

"These trees look pretty dead," I threw in, completely ignoring the petite blonde's protests. "Shouldn't be much of a problem in getting decent wood."

Leon nodded. "Right. Let's go and hunt for more snakes, and pile 'em up on that one." He motioned with his head towards his poor, little murder victim. "Ashley, go look for wood."

Ashley stared blankly at him, with her mouth open and her arms folded. I frowned.

"What, because she's a girl she's unable to hunt now?" I said defensively. Leon blinked in puzzlement.

"Uh… would you like to hunt, Ashley…?"

She gazed at him with a hilariously baffled look on her face. _"No!"_

I shrugged. "Fine. Keep up the female stereotype as a gatherer. Come on, Leon."

With that, I sped past her with my chin raised. Quite frankly, I wasn't very keen on hunting myself and my attempt at pushing Ashley into it had failed miserably. Oh, well. At least I could give my fangirl some satisfaction while hunting with Leon, maybe that would shut her up.

"Right," Leon said when we reached the stairs to the walkway above. "You search for some snakes here in this area, while I head upstairs."

"Roger that, Leon."

I watched Leon as he sprinted up the stairs and vanished out of sight. Hewie sauntered up to me and looked at me with his head tilted and a somewhat dumbfounded facial expression before pressing his snout at the ground again and continue searching for whatever it was he was searching for. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to focus on the sounds around me. Ashley's footsteps sounded heavy and I could hear dry leaves crush under the soles of her boots. I smirked when I heard colorful phrases escaping her lips, definitely not learned in kindergarten. She groaned as she attempted to break off some branches of one of the trees. I shook my head. Grr, come on, concentrate on the hunting. A few ravens gossiped with each other nearby, before I heard flapping of their wings and their screams fainted. I concentrated harder, with a deepening furrow between my brows. Was that mumbling?

"_Mueren… mueren… mueren…"_

Wonderful. The monks of utter doom. I prayed to God that this was in easy mode, because I truly did suck at the game when I played it back home. Then suddenly, the sound of a dry fabric scraping against something hard. My heart leaped of anticipation. That could be a snake. I reached my hands out in front of me and followed the sound like a mindless zombie, then being hindered by something. I opened my eyes. Oh. The wall.

_Figures…_

I looked up. Did the sound come from above? Sure sounded like it. The wall was tall. Really tall. I glanced at Ashley, who was standing with her back against me, desperately trying to reach the branches of the tree near the cabin. She was already suspicious of me and if she caught me flying like some psycho Superman-imitator, I wouldn't be able to count on Leon's peacemaking abilities to save me. Likewise, I wouldn't be able to explain myself if I tried to jump and failed and she found me lying on the ground with severe breathing issues like the last time I tried.

_Just jump, already! Jeez!_

I looked up at the wall again, deciding it was best to run up the stairs before trying. When I reached the top, I peeked at Ashley again to make sure her attention was nowhere near my direction.

"Stupid tree! Why can't I be tall!?"

Coast clear. I drew in a deep breath.

_Come on, Alma. You can do this. Come on. Calm down. You can do this. You're strong. Alright? Now… Three… two… one…_

The mental countdown ceased as I realized I was standing completely stiff, with my arms glued to my torso.

_Alright, let's try again. Loosen up. You can do this. Get ready… three…_

I bent my knees and looked up at the top of the wall.

_Two…_

I clenched my teeth.

_One…_

"Fate hates me…"

_JUMP!_

Wind hollered past my ears as I flied up, my heart racing like crazy inside my chest. I wasn't sure whether to feel joy or fear or both as the top closed in on me at an incredible speed. I stretched my hands out towards the edge, a squeal of delight escaping my lips as they clamped on firm rock, swiftly followed by a squeal of terror as my sick hand slipped and left me dangling dangerously. I looked down. Big mistake.

"Oh, God…"

_Look up! Up!_

With surprising ease, I managed to haul myself over the edge. I sighed of relief as my shoes hit firm ground. My knees were shaking.

_See? I told you so. You made it._

I looked around me. Nothing but good ol', grey stone in the area. With the exception a dozen of wooden boxes stacked in line and on top of each other. I could hear angry hissing somewhere in the pile.

_Well. There has never been a more fitting time to say;_

"D'oh!"

I walked up to one of them and in need to vent my frustration, I struck my fist through it, making it splinter and revealed a green herb inside it. Feeling puzzled, I felt the leaves on it before yanking it out of its pot and shoving into my mouth. I chewed slowly on it, not being quite sure why I was eating it. But I was glad I did, because it tasted quite good. Fresh. Minty. My breath sure needed that. I frowned. What was I doing again? … Oh, right! Hunting! I pressed my ear against the remaining boxes with a deep furrow between my brows. The hissing had ceased. I gave the boxes a brutal kick. The hissing started again. With my sick hand sliding against the wood, I felt my way over the boxes, the hissing increasing in volume. I stopped. There. That had to be the box. I clenched my left fist and jolted it through the fragile container, my eyebrows rising as I pulled the hand out with a furious snake attached to it. It wiggled and twirled and looked like it was trying to inflict pain on me, the way it was biting me. How cute.

"Sorry, fella, you're gonna be dinner," I said cheerfully to it, and forced its jaws apart. The holes through my hand immediately closed, all that remained was perfect, unblemished skin.

"ALBERT! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

Leon didn't sound happy. In fact, he sounded outraged. I didn't want to keep him waiting. I scurried to the edge and waved down at the two, earning shocked looks. I stepped on the edge, preparing to jump down, but was stopped by Ashley's squeal.

"What're you doing!?"

"What does it look like?"

"You're gonna kill yourself!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Don't you dare jumping!"

"You're not my mother! I can do whatever the hell I want!"

"Albert, if you know how, don't be an idiot!"

"Argh, for the love of --!"

I hauled myself over the ledge, tensing my body for the impact. It felt like my stomach tried to escape through my gullet, and I gritted my teeth as to make sure it stayed down there. My whole body was jerked downwards as my feet met the ground, my face mere inches away from the cruel, cold stone. Vowing to myself that I would never, ever do that again, I rose to my feet and barely managed to pull myself together before a flash of orange glomped me.

"Albie!" Ashley squeaked into my ear. "I'm so glad you're all right!" She let go of me, her soft expression turning hard and she smacked me roughly across my face. I was stunned.

"Do that again, and I'll use my fist!"

We stared at each other. Leon cleared his throat. "Did you find anything?"

"Oh yeah. This sweetheart here." I showed the snake to him, his eyebrow raising as she squirmed in my hand and hissed furiously.

"Yeah. Really sweet. Give it to me," Leon said and reached out his hand. I reluctantly obeyed his order and looked away as he closed his hands around her head and body. The sound of her neck snapping sent chills down my spine.

"With the one I got, we have one snake each," Leon said casually and pulled out his knife. I watched in horror as he gutted her with an absent-minded look on his face.

"Uh… I see you've got fire," I mumbled, referring to the blazing bonfire behind him. "I didn't know we have a lighter…?"

Leon grumbled. "We don't. Ashley lost her patience and kidnapped an incendiary grenade from your backpack. Our last one, I might add."

Ashley looked offended. "First of all; it's _my_ backpack. Second of all; I didn't hear you come up with a better idea."

Leon sent her a dirty look, although smiling. "Hmm. Good point. But let's try to save as much equipment as we can from now on, okay?" He bent down and picked up a slender, sharp branch he impaled the snake with.

"Great. We have a bonfire, a dark night and meat to barbeque. All we need is now a good story…"

Leon walked over to the fire and sat down, followed by Ashley and me. Ashley handed me a snake-on-a-stick before seizing hers with an expression like she was holding plutonium.

Leon smirked. "Say, Albert, why don't you tell us about the story of the American soldier in the jungle?"

I blinked. "Uhh… okay… just gimme a minute…"

Ashley and Leon arched their bodies in my direction, making me feel nervous. I rested my finger on my chin as I thought about how I should begin the story. Oh, the hell with it.

"Somewhere in the Soviet Union, several tons of grey steel is trespassing enemy territory. A man inside the plane is playing with the cigar in his mouth and glances over at the crew who will be supporting him on this dangerous mission…"

* * *

The theme song of Superman echoed through the empty hallway. The only figure present jumped at the sudden noise and hastily fished the cellphone out of the pocket of his suit jacket. His blue eyes calmly examined the number on the display. William Burke moaned in annoyance as he recognized it.

_Goddamn you, director… if I didn't answer the phone the first nine times, what makes you think I'd answer it the twentieth time? God!_

Somewhat clumsily, he removed the battery of the phone. The ringtone ceased immediately.

Burke smirked. "Try calling me now, you son-of-a-whore!"

He scrutinized the area, the wind blowing in through the open windows, making him shudder. The crimson drapes fluttered peacefully in harmony with the breeze, pale moonlight casting ominous shadows on the gray statues covering the entire wall in the hallway. Burke frowned. This seemed too familiar. Then he realized it was because he had walked through this hallway five times before.

"Damn it!" he shouted and threw his arms into the air in frustration. "I'm lost! How could this happen?"

Like he expected – and hoped – no one answered.

_Lost in a fictional castle… you just hit rock bottom, didn't you, Will? Like it wasn't bad enough that the entire company blames you for what happened to the German girl and the fact that the new techie turned out to be a high-profiled hacker who has done something odd to this place, although it's not apparent exactly _what_ he has done._

All the muscles in Burke's body contracted into a violent twitch as he heard the theme song of Superman for the second time. With a hilariously bewildered look on his face, Burke reached for the pocket inside his jacket and grabbed the other cellphone. He angrily ripped the battery out of it and yelled;

"What the heck is going on!? This is a bloody private phone! I haven't given my personal number to anyone!"

He drew in a deep breath. Shouting out his thoughts was a bad habit of his, but he had never attempted to change it as it had never gotten him into trouble.

"Allì està!"

Until now.

Burke stepped backwards, his eyes wide. "Oh, no! Monks!"

He swiftly pulled his gun and aimed. The shot was muzzled by the silencer, the black-robed monk staggered as blood and brain tissue splattered on the floor behind him. Still with a red, gaping hole through his forehead, he roared of anger and bolted towards Burke, who yelped and in panic emptied the rest of the clip into the attacker. Gurgling sounds emerged from the monk's throat before he fell lifelessly to the floor.

"I hate this place," Burke sobbed. He almost lost his gun in shock as he once again heard Superman's theme song. With a scream of fury, he slung it roughly into the wall, shattering it into pieces at the impact.

"Where the heck did that one come from? I only had two on me. This is getting ridiculous."

Another theme song ricocheted through the air, the Indiana Jones one this time. Burke sighed as he reached for another pocket inside his jacket. The ringtone ended when he hit the answer button.

_If the guy wants to talk to me badly enough to stash several cellphones on me, I'll just have to throw in the towel._

Burke raised the phone slowly to his ear. "Hello, director." His eyes widened and narrowed. "Oh, it's _you_. What the heck are you doing with the director's phone? … On second thought, I don't wish to hear it. What do you want? … No, I haven't found anyone yet, with the exception of a rude, young Spaniard, insane monks and a creepy, little boy who's got two odd creatures about his person at all times. Oh, how should I know? He babbles constantly to them about his family and the architecture of this damned castle… why on earth would I talk to him? He's nuts! Just like everyone else here! … Huh? What did you say? …You're sending in another operative? … Don't get snippy with me, lady! Who are you sending in?" Burke held his breath in anticipation. Then he moaned loudly. "Oh, no! Not him! I hate that guy! Come on, already! Why him? … Oh, that's so typical of you, Diane! You're such a low person! … What, are you _laughing?_ Hello? _Hello?"_

Burke cursed under his breath and hung up.

"Wonderful."

* * *

"… and then the strange woman gets off the motorcycle and removes her helmet. Soft, golden locks drape her shoulders, her icy blue eyes digging deeply into his. Snake swallows. That has to be the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. She steps towards him with a slight smirk and fidgets with the zipper on her suit…"

Ashley's stare was stiffly glued at me while she was absent-mindedly chewing on her fried snake. Leon was already finished with his, and he was looking at me with his head resting in his hands. After a while, he cleared his throat as a cue for me to shut up.

"I think we need to continue this some other time," Leon said and rose from his position. A crack was heard from his back as he stretched his body. "Let's find dirt we can use to put out the fire."

Ashley and I nodded in silence and went to search for fitting muck. After putting out the flames and getting an irrepressible laughing fit when Leon caught fire to his shoe after deciding to speed up the process by stepping on the bonfire, we headed for the red, rusty door leading out of the area. I tensed my muscles as we approached, preparing for the worst. I really hated this area. How many times did I kill poor Leon off here when I was trying to play through normal mode? Three times? Four times? Five…?

A spine-chilling screeching sound grinded on my eardrums as Leon slowly pushed the door open. He led the way with a firm grip on his pistol. I sharpened my ears when we reached the large, wooden box with the sniper rifle ammo on it.

"_Morir es vivir…"_

Thud.

"_Morir es vivir…"_

Thud.

"_Morir es vivir…"_

Thud.

I frowned. What were those noises interrupting the eerie chanting? And where were the two monks that pointlessly wandered about on the upper level in the game? Not that I complained, but somehow I suspected that it was rather due to something being horribly wrong than a divine intervention deciding upon making our path easier. As Leon treaded the stairs to the fiery welcome above, I hastily placed my hand on his arm. Leon looked quizzically at me.

"Let me go first," I said with a rasping voice. I swallowed in an attempt at moistening my throat. His gaze was hard, but he simply nodded in reply and stepped aside. I unenthusiastically walked up, my left hand tightly closed around the pole of my shovel. Not that it would help much against blazing boulders being shot at me in a hundred kilometers per hour. My foot met the top step and I sucked in a deep breath, praying that my doubt about the divine intervention was unjust. I walked into the area, preparing for the assault that never came; instead I witnessed a sight so gruesome the atrocious image burned deeply into my retina, etching itself into my memory and the darkest parts of my nightmares. I barely managed to stifle a scream, let go of the shovel and span around to flee down the stairs. Leon looked at me with his forehead creased and Ashley made a sound of protest as I rammed my back against the wall while clenching her to my chest with my hand covering her eyes. Leon just stared at me with an utterly baffled look on his face. I nodded in the direction of the area. He cautiously stepped up and peeked around the corner, swiftly pulling his head back and looking at me, the baffled expression replaced with shock. After blinking a few times, he motioned an astonished WHAT? with his mouth.

I KNOW, I motioned back.

OH, MY GOD!

I KNOW!

* * *


	12. Chapter 11: That guy

**AN: Finally updating this! Wow, guys, five reviews for the last chapter? Thanks! If I do what I'm supposed to, this will be the last you'll see of me for a while, due to exams and such. If not… then wish me luck, because I'll sorely need it. This is somewhat shorter than the others: I wanted to update so I could get this out of my mind.**

**Also, I'll make a reference to other RE4 – self-inserts I've read here, so if you want me to leave you out, let me know. Also let me know if I've forgotten any.**

**PS: Does Spain really use doorknobs? Not door handles?**

* * *

Chapter twelve: That Guy

* * *

Swift thumps emitted from Burke's expensive shoes as he walked at a fast pace, seeming almost robotic in his stiff movements. All the hallways seemed to intertwine each other, the next hallway appearing more similar to the other than the last one, weaved together in an infinite and intricate maze of sheer mockery. And he had ended up there. Out of all people, he, the guy who practically needed a GPS to find the way to the bathroom in his apartment, had ended up in there.

_Lady Luck. You evil witch._

Burke continued to hold long, sulking monologues inside his head as a mean to pass time, his eyes wandering over the indentations and patterns etched into the bare marble that was not covered in a fine, silky wallpaper.

_Pfft. The owner of this castle is such a cheap show-off._

Some of the indentations seemed off as his blue eyes flicked over the smooth surface on the wall, his brain perceiving the peculiarity although not the cause of it. Burke stopped dead in his tracks. As he moved closer to the marks in the wall, his eyebrow raised, the serrations formed into words, clumsily engraved into the marble.

"What in God's name…?" he breathed, feeling inwardly amused as he read.

_Nicole, you're here! You miss Kaitlin!_

_Brittanee was here too! Be nice or she'll give you the kick of doom! _

_Sheila was here before anyone! Muhahahaha! HAH!_

_Herbs taste like green, they really do._

_Rally here! Leon, if you read this, I just wanted to say that you – drool … err… and Wesker! You're - megadrool_

Burke pulled away from the wall and brushed a few strands of ash blonde hair away from his face.

_Hmph. Vandalism. Kids today don't admire models or actors anymore, now they ogle pixilated characters. Can't blame them though. If Jill Valentine was real, I'd – _

Something disturbed the tranquil air in the hallway, shutting off Burke's brain activity. The sound was barely audible at first, but then shaped to slow footsteps resonating in the compound. Burke's pale hand fumbled with the pistol inside his jacket, freezing as Burke realized he recognized those footsteps; definitely not the ones of a nutcase monk. Slow, arrogant footsteps that ricocheted in his cranium during his nightmares. It was him. It was the guy.

_Oh, crap._

Burke inhaled quickly through his nostrils, his eyes darting back and forth, desperately seeking out an escape route. A joyful humming blended in with the footsteps, the noise rising in volume. A numbing force pressed on Burke's ribcage as the shadow of a man came into vision behind the corner to the hallway Burke just left. His heart leaped of joy inside his chest as his eyes landed on a wooden door next to a beautiful statue of a woman. Wasting no time, Burke zipped in through it – a jolt of pain shooting from his forehead as he brutally crashed into someone.

* * *

Albert's warm hand was firmly clamped over Ashley's eyes and she was holding her breath in apprehension. As the realization that she was in no imminent danger crept upon her, she began squirming against his grip, to no avail.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Ashley hissed heatedly.

"I'm saving your innocence, that's what," he replied, his voice quavering.

"Innocence? What do you mean?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Leon threw in. "Alright, Albie, let's just walk calmly through and not look at anything. Okay?"

"I don't know if I can!"

"Yes, you can! I need you to do this! Alright?"

"Okay…" Albert drew in a quick breath through his lips. "I can do this."

"Atta boy. Follow me…"

With that, Ashley was mercilessly hauled forth and almost tripped in Albert's feet. As they moved, euphoric panting and Spanish gibberish augmented in volume, causing Ashley's curiosity to flicker to life. She made new, half-hearted attempts of wrenching loose from Albert's iron hold.

"C'mon!" she complained. "I wanna see!"

"No, Ashley," Albert said steadfastly. "I'm not letting you."

"I'm a grown woman! I should be allowed to see anything I want!"

A goaded sigh sounded from behind her and she could practically hear him roll his eyes.

"Alright," he said, "I'll generate an image inside your head."

Ashley held her breath in anticipation. "Yeah?"

"Two words; Ganado love."

All the air in Ashley's lungs left her, and she went limp for a long moment before the imagery fully sank into her mind.

"_Ew!"_ she sputtered, grimacing while she gestured with her hand, as if she subconsciously tried to wave the atrocious image away.

"Oh, yeah, and that doesn't even begin to – _Oh, my God! Tentacles!"_

"We're leaving!" Leon whistled in astonishment. Ashley felt her feet leave the ground as she was elevated several inches and carried off like a sack of old potatoes. Her body bumped into Albert's in concord with his movement. Spanish chanting, interrupted now and then with squishy, dull knocks soon entered Ashley's line of hearing and, despite all her logic reasoning, she plucked up enough courage to ask Albert about the source of it.

"It's nothing nasty," he comforted her, "but boy, these guys' got serious mental issues."

His hand disappeared from her eyes; illuminating the area they had entered. Her breath hitched in her gullet as she rested her gaze on three black-robed men slamming their heads against the red surface of a large gate.

"Morir es vivir…"

Thud.

"Morir es vivir…"

Thud.

"Morir es vivir..."

Thud.

Leon nodded his head to Albert's comment. "Serious issues, alright. Let's get away from them, shall we?"

Albert, Ashley and Hewie made sounds of agreement and Leon led the way over a stony path to a cabin. As they ambled closer to it, the rough frame of a man came into vision, crouched down over something Ashley was unable to distinguish. Her neck protested as she stretched it, her brown eyes peering down to the spot under the enthusiastically moving head of the monk. Ashley's stomach performed a nauseating turn in her abdomen as she saw it was a yellow, sticky substance the man was so eagerly cleaning up with his tongue.

"Jeez," Albert muttered, sounding as appalled as she was feeling. "Salazar should feed his servants once in a while."

"Salazar, whom?" Leon wondered, the skin above his left brow creasing in bewilderment.

"Uh… he… I…" Albert sputtered, struggling to find the right words. "Uh… I found some files saying he's the owner of the castle. Before I bumped into you."

"Really," Leon answered, skepticism lacing his words. With a weary sigh sliding through his dry lips, he turned his back on Albert, obviously keen on dropping the matter. Light-footed, he stepped into the small shack, sweeping ammo boxes and herbs off the shelves. Ashley jumped as something wet nudged against her knee. Hewie looked up at her, his vivid, brown eyes large and shiny as he wiggled his tale and arched his furry head.

"He likes you," Albert stated matter-of-factly. The corners of Ashley's mouth pulled reluctantly into a nervous smile. She had always been incredibly afraid of dogs. Very slowly, her slender hand descended towards the tip of Hewie's left ear, only to jerk up again as Leon suddenly popped up with front of them, something clutched in his gloved hand.

"Treasure," he grinned and threw the object to Albert.

"Oooh, shiny," Albert snickered in return. He proceeded to shove it into his – correction, _her_ – backpack and followed Leon as he walked past them. Ashley tilted her head upon seeing that the area they headed towards consisted of nothing more than a narrow pathway shaping into a circle, leading to a claustrophobic room of stone.

"Another crank," Leon said as he scrutinized the rusty contraption on the hard ground. "I'll deal with it."

A horrible, metallic screech emitted from it as Leon forced the handle to revolve, the sound reverberating in the black nothingness inside the hole they were dangerously close to. Ashley peered down into it, brows vanishing under her bangs as the fluorescent moonlight was reflected on the smooth facade of an ancient-looking cannon.

"There's a cannon down there, Leon," Albert exclaimed, albeit not seeming very surprised. "We'll be able to blow the gate and the Ganados headbanging at it to hell."

* * *

With an angry moan, Burke clamped his hand on his forehead and glanced up at the man responsible for his headache. Burke's eyes widened and narrowed as they wandered up the other man's body before glaring into his steely grey eyes.

"You," he growled, swiftly rising from the floor. "You're that smart-mouthed Spaniard, aren't you?"

"Luis Sera is my name," the dark-haired man answered, a look of amusement plastered on his face. "And what's yours, amigo?"

"None of your damned business!"

A wide smirk formed on Luis' lips. "Well, then, Mr. None Of Your Damned Business, what brings you to this part of Spain?"

Burke readied a toxic retort, but it soon escaped his mind as the perilous humming once again infiltrated his ear channels. An open armoire gave him the only halfway decent idea he could come up with at the moment, and he seized the opportunity before his plan slipped away and left him apathetic. In one fluid movement, Burke snatched a hold of Luis' arm and roughly shoved him into the armoire.

"Hey, amigo, what're you doing?" Luis exclaimed, blinking in puzzlement as Burke squeezed himself next to him and shut the doors close.

"Quiet, you idiot! I'm hiding!"

"Why are you -"

"Shush!"

Luis' cheek was pressed against the wooden walls inside the armoire, not being able to move an inch. Burke's breath was hot on his neck, his body pinned next to his. Being inside a small, dark place with another man didn't seem right to Luis – and he thought he ought to make the unfamiliar person fully aware of it.

"Ay yi yi…" Luis grimaced. "You know, I've only been this physically close to my ex-girlfriends," he timidly muttered into the darkness. "Lots and lots and lots of ex-girlfriends. Did I mention lots of them?"

He could feel a glower from the other man. "Why should I care?"

"I like women," Luis continued, attempting to squirm into a more comfortable posture. "Women are great. With their hair, and legs and curves and voices… I love women. They're so… uh… womanly."

"No kidding," Burke grunted, exhaling annoyed, the hot air making Luis cringe. "Where are you going with this?" Burke paused for a long moment. "…Oh."

"Yeah, ladies are the best, eh?" Luis said, desperately trying to inch away from the other man.

"Yeah…" Burke mumbled in return. "… I have lots of ex-girlfriends too, you know."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Lots of them."

A long, awkward silence placed its clammy hand on their conversation. It was broken as a dry cough rasped up from Burke's throat.

"I'm not gay."

"Me neither."

Heavy footsteps resonated in the room and Luis could hear Burke's breath snag in his gullet as the door creaked.

"Oh, Billy-boy?" A man's dark voice called, saturated with scorn. "I thought I heard your lovely voice around here somewhere."

The heavy footsteps sauntered towards them. "But, oh, where could he be, the little, wriggling fish? Is it possible -" the footsteps halted outside the armoire –"just _possible_, that he has chosen the most obvious hiding spot in the room?"

With that, the doors flung open, Luis' widened pupils letting in a painful amount of luminous light from the candles. After batting his eyelids enough to get used to the radiance, Luis managed to distinguish the large silhouette towering over them. Luis jaw went limp. The giant peered down at him through a pair of ominous, amber eyes, his face seemingly permanently twisted in a mocking smirk. He was clothed in a green uniform, not as much as a crease ruining its impeccable exterior. Light glimmered in the numerous medallions decorating his chest.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?" the large man said, riveting his gaze to the stunned face of Luis. "Oh, Billy-boy, have you gotten yourself a little friend?" He frowned. "What on Earth were the two of you doing in here?"

Burke and Luis exchanged quick glances.

"Err... we were… uh…" Burke began tentatively, his imagination not providing any assistance.

"… Uh… just…" Luis stammered, attempting to help the blonde man.

"…Uhm…"

"Arm wrestling?"

Burke and the giant sent Luis puzzled glances.

"Uh… yeah," Burke added with a raised brow, forcing himself out of the armoire. "Arm wrestling."

"Is that so, now?" the uniformed man said, looking profoundly amused. "Where's the table?"

"We're so manly, we don't need a table."

"Ah. You must be the smart-mouthed Spaniard." The giant stretched to his full height as he cocked his head, his gaze fixed at Luis. "Well, then. If you don't mind leaving us, the lovely Billy-boy and I need some privacy."

Luis nodded stiffly in reply, nearly tripping in his feet as he rushed out of the armoire to the door, resting his hand on the knob before he faced the blonde man and said, "take care, amigo."

Not waiting for an answer, Luis opened the door and dashed out.

"Oh, ex-Colonel Balloch," 'Billy-boy's' voice monotonously uttered from the room, "I'm just so happy to see you."

Luis paced away from the area containing the two uncanny men, their voices fading with each step.

_Alright, Luis, you know the drill; whenever you meet people even bigger freaks than Saddler, turn around and walk away. Just walk away. On second thought, don't walk. Run, Luis, run, RUN!_

Abiding the orders of his mind, Luis gained haste and fled the scene faster than a speeding Krauser.

* * *


End file.
